Follow Your Heart
by Seanchaidh
Summary: Rated T because it's a thriller. Set years after the end of the Tribe, it is not essential to have any knowledge of the series to read this, other than that the original series was a post-apocalyptic drama. Parts vary greatly in length. 34 parts in total.
1. Part 1

Follow Your Heart

Part 1

Jack stood on the hilltop, looking out over the city he had lived all his life in. It was hard to believe that, just fifteen years ago, almost all of the city had been destroyed, including the mall he had lived in at the time. That was the problem with bringing back electricity, but not the fire service.

"Can we go yet, Dad?" moaned Jack's little son from behind him.

"Why do you always have to complain!" snapped his daughter from her brother's side.

"Ellie, can't you be nice to your brother for just a little while?" Jack said, turning to face the moody adolescent. His daughter folded her arms and turned her head to the side without answering. Jack sighed and turned to his young son.

"Can we go home now, Dad?" the boy asked, pulling his jacket close around him, "I'm cold."

"Sure we can, Leo. Come on." Jack took the seven-year-old's hand and led him down the hillside. Ellie followed, still in a huff.

"Will we ever see Mom again, Dad?" Leo asked, frowning.

"Maybe, one day," Jack answered, thoughtfully "Mom's gone on to where we can't follow her for now, not until it is our time, just like it was her time to leave us. One day, when it's our time to go, we'll follow her and maybe we'll find her again, but not until then."

Behind them, where neither her father nor her brother could hear her, Ellie sniffed as the tears trickled down her face. It wasn't fair, she thought, she wasn't old enough to lose her mother; she was only twelve! She had heard the story, of course, of how her parents had lost their parents, but that was different. They had formed tribes back then because everyone was in the same situation. They had all had each other. She didn't have anyone.


	2. Part 2

Part 2

Ellie looked around her as they reached the bottom of the hill. Her Uncle Paul was nowhere to be seen. It was well known that her father and her uncle didn't get along, but for Paul not to even show face at his sister's funeral was odd. Ellie wondered if her father had even bothered to tell him about it.

The people that surrounded her now represented the remainder of her parent's tribe, the Mall Rats. Tribes no longer existed in the city. Her father had abolished them when he became city leader ten years ago. Technically she, Ellie, was a Mall Rat too. She had been born amongst them, albeit three years after they had been forced to move once their home, the Phoenix mall, had been burnt down in the fire that had engulfed much of the city, and killed many of its inhabitants. Her older brother, Dal, had died in that fire. He was only a year old at the time. Ellie wondered what he would have been like, if he could have remembered the old days her father's generation so often spoke of.

Now Ellie looked from face to face amongst the thinning crowd. Her uncle was definitely not amongst those gathered there, but someone else was.

"Martha!" Ellie cried, relieved to see her best friend present amongst the mourners, "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Dad didn't want me to come," her friend replied once Ellie joined her, "He was afraid if any of us showed up it would upset your Dad."

"I doubt that he'd even notice," Ellie said, huffily, "he's too busy talking to Miss over there. Probably about getting me back to school. He hates having me under his feet."

"But you can't go back to school yet: it's only been two days since your mother died. It was so sudden too, it must have been such a shock. There's no way he can seriously be thinking of sending you back!"

"Why not? He's back at work, after all. He says that the city won't run itself. I guess he thinks that if he's back to work, then I should be back to school."

"What about Leo?"

"Oh, the golden child, the heir apparent" Ellie rolled her eyes, "No, he gets to go see how Daddy dear earns his son's little allowance. Huh, I hate to think what that kid will turn out like when he's grown!"

"Where's your uncle?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since before Mom died. I don't even know if he knows she's dead. It would be just _so_ like Dad to not even bother to tell him. You know how the two of them are."

"Yeah, why is that?"

"Something to do with the way Dad became City Leader. I dunno, Uncle Paul always said things shouldn't have worked out the way they did. He said there was another candidate who should have won, but he disappeared."

"Did he ever say what happened to him?"

"No, he wouldn't even say who he was! It's so weird, it's like he thinks Dad stepped into this guy's shoes a bit too eagerly or something. Who cares, it's all ancient history now anyway!"

"Ellie!" Brady called from beside Jack. Ellie sighed, rolled her eyes at Martha, and wandered over to her teacher, closely followed by her best friend.

"Yes, Miss?" Ellie said, trying to appear at least marginally cheerful.

"Your father thinks it would be best for you to return to school as soon as possible. He thinks it would take your mind off things. What do you think?"

"Whatever," the twelve-year-old said, shrugging.

"What are _you_ doing here!" said Jack, angrily turning on Martha. The thirteen-year-old girl paled a little and stepped back a bit.

"I-I just came to try and cheer Ellie up, sir!" Martha replied, shakily.

"If your father had done his job properly, Ellie wouldn't have needed cheering up!" Jack spat the words out at the girl, whose face paled a little more, "Get out of here, now! You are not welcome."

With an apologetic look at her friend, Martha turned and ran in the direction of the hospital that her parents ran. Ellie turned on her father with all the vehemence of any hard-done-by adolescent.

"_DAD!_" she yelled, "It's not her fault! Why did you have to be horrible to her? Martha's my _best friend_."

"She's also the daughter of the man who is responsible for your mother's death - are you just going to forget that?"

"It wasn't his fault, Jack" Trudy said, gently, from over Jack's shoulder, "Patch did all he could. He did his best."

"His best wasn't good enough!" Jack yelled, then stormed off, pulling his son after him and leaving Ellie behind, looking blankly up at her teacher's mother.

"Don't worry honey," Trudy told her, sweeping the little girl into a warm embrace, "Daddy's just a bit upset right now. He really loved your mother and he misses her. He just needs to find a reason why she's not around anymore, that's all. Patch and Dee know that, too. It'll pass, don't worry."


	3. Part 3

Part 3

Ellie sat curled up in a corner of the sofa in Trudy's small, but comfortable, living-room. The walls had been painted a bright lilac colour, with a border of stencilled daisies around the top of the room. In the nearby kitchen she could see Jackson, Trudy and Hawk's youngest son, sitting at the table, scribbling away at his homework whilst his mother busied herself sorting out a pot of tea in the kitchen.

"Why can't Brady help me with this?" Jackson wailed, "She's my sister after all!"

"She's also your teacher, Jackson," said Trudy, attempting to placate him, "It wouldn't be fair if she were to help you and not anyone else in the class. She never helped your sister either."

"SO! Falcon never needed help. Not with her _homework_ anyway!"

Trudy sighed and left her son to his work as she joined Ellie in the living-room. She placed the teapot on the coffee table in the middle of the room and sorted out the cups and saucers, a luxury she had found unbroken in the attic of her house when she, Hawk, Brady and Falcon had moved in after the city fire. As Trudy poured out the tea, she watched Ellie closely. The girl was so like a younger version of her namesake, it was uncanny. Her hair was a light blonde colour, not the original light brown of her mother's hair, nor the darker brown of Jack's hair. Patsy had always sworn the girl was Jack's daughter, but surely not. Besides, Trudy thought, the way Jack treats her, he must hold some kind of grudge against her.

Ellie lifted her cup tentatively and sipped at her tea. She often wondered if the tea her father's generation grew was better or worse than what their parents had drunk. when she looked up, Trudy smiled at her and asked if she was feeling any better. Nodding shyly, Ellie put her tea down again and nibbled at a biscuit that Trudy had brought through.

"Do you want to go back to school, Ellie?" Trudy asked, sipping at her own tea.

"I don't know. I prefer it to being at home."

That was understandable if the incident at the graveyard was anything to go by, thought Trudy.

"What did my Mum die of?" Ellie asked, putting her cup down on the table and frowning.

"I don't know, my dear," Trudy replied, "Even Patch doesn't know."

"If he had he might have been able to save her, mightn't he?"

"Perhaps. Sometimes there just isn't anything a doctor can do."

"I heard him telling Dad he thought she had taken something. He asked if Dad knew what it was. Dad said no."

Trudy frowned. She had heard the rumour herself, suggesting patsy had intentionally taken her own life. There was no telling what truth there was in such a rumour, however, and she had simply dismissed it. Now it seemed that it might be true, but surely not. Not Patsy!

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Up in his office, in the largest of the many suburban office blocks that had escaped the blaze fifteen years ago, Jack looked out of the window with his son at his side.

"Do you really own all this, Dad?" Leo asked in awe.

"I don't own it, Leo," Jack corrected his son, "I merely run it. It's like being a manager, or a caretaker."

"A what?"

"Never mind. I just mean that the city belongs to everyone in it and all those people chose me to look after it for them."

"They _chose_ you?"

"Yes, in an election, two in fact."

"What's an election?"

"It's where all the people in the city have to decide who their leader will be. They normally have a few choices. Everyone can 'vote' once for whoever they choose and then all the votes are counted and whoever has the most votes wins the election. We have one election every five years, so you were only two years old for the last one, and there will be another one in a few months time. Okay?"

"Uh huh," Leo nodded, then frowned and thought for a moment, "What if the people don't choose you, Dad?"

"They will, son," Jack smiled, "They will."


	4. Part 4

Part 4

The judge stood up as her aide placed the cap of office on her head, slightly flattening the long brown ringlets with blonde tip, a remnant of the days when dyes were still in existence, that crowned her head. She cast a glance over at the arresting officer, standing beside the accused, then looked back to the man in the dock.

"Malachi," the judge said, holding the man's gaze, "You have been found guilty of the theft of a loaf of bread, five apples and a bag of tea from the marketplace upon which this city relies for food. Do you have anything to say?"

"I was only trying to feed my family, ma'am. My youngest won't last the week with no more food and my wife has already lost our unborn baby."

The judge nodded, slowly, once, then spoke.

"This court understands the circumstances behind your crime, Malachi, and, although we cannot agree that the end justifies the means, do see the need for leniency. As such I have chosen for you the minimum sentence I can lawfully impose. I sentence you to six months community service in the power station. Your wife and family will join you there where they will help you work out your sentence. You will all receive shelter and food during your stay there. Do you understand?"

Malachi nodded and hung his head as he was led from the dock. It could have been much worse: the maximum sentence for theft was ten years hard labour in the mines, although only the judge of the high court, the City Leader, had ever imposed such a sentence.

As the prisoner was led away, the judge sighed and bowed her head for the aide to remove the cap. As the courtroom waited on her signal to leave, she turned and walked down the steps of the judicial podium and exited the room. Behind her she heard the courtroom empty in a loud and bustling mass sigh. Walking slowly up the corridor with bowed shoulders and a heavy head, the judge reached her rooms and pushed open the door. Closing it behind her, she took off her official robes and changed back into her normal clothes. As she fastened the wide, blue, leather belt buckle, she heard a knock at the door.

"Enter," she called.

The door opened gently and the arresting officer stepped into the room, his official hat in his hand, revealing his long dark hair, now turning grey at the sides, pulled back into a neat ponytail. His dark eyes observed the judge closely.

"You okay?" he asked, closing the door quietly behind him.

"I'm fine, Lex," said the judge.

"Well, you don't look it!"

"Thanks!"

The judge gave a bitter laugh as she spoke and turned to her window, folding her arms across her stomach. Lex placed his hat on the desk and walked over to her side. When he placed his hand on her arm, the judge pulled away from him and continued staring out of the window, but she didn't tell him to leave. They had known each other too long for that.  
"Amber, I know you hate giving sentences like that," said Lex, watching her reflection in the window pane, "There's no reason to pretend to me. I know you better than that."

Amber's eyes flicked to the ground for a second the back up at the window. This time, when Lex put his arm around her shoulders, she didn't pull away. The tears started forming in Amber's eyes and Lex pulled her close. She leant against him as she wept bitterly.

"Hey, hey," he said, gently, "There was nothing more you could do. You gave him the least punishment you could."

"Why should someone be punished for trying to feed his family?"

"Because he broke the law. You know that. We all rely on things running smoothly to survive. I know it's harsh, but they will at least get fed where they are going."

As Lex spoke, there was another knock on the door. When Amber dried her eyes and called "Enter" once more, the door was opened by a tall, brown haired young man of about 21, followed by an older man in his mid to late thirties. Amber's eyes brightened as she rushed forward to greet the first newcomer.

"Zac, you're back!" she cried, "How are you, my son? Where have you been? How long have you been back in the city?"

"I'm fine, mother," Zac answered, "We just got back. We just got back this morning and we came straight here. Paul and I are going to go on to see Patsy and the kids once we leave you."

Amber and Lex both paled a little and grew quiet.

"Oh, Paul," Amber said, gently, turning to face the deaf man beside her son so that he could tell what she said, "You don't know then?"

"Know what, mother?" Zac asked, as he watched a worried frown pass over his companions face.

"It's Patsy," Amber continued, "I'm so sorry, Paul, but she's dead."


	5. Part 5

Part 5

Patch was doing his rounds in the hospital when Paul arrived, swiftly followed by Zac. When Patch looked up and saw the newcomers, they were almost upon him. His colour paling a little, the doctor pushed his glasses up on his nose and stepped forward to meet Paul, fully expecting to receive the same treatment he had been given by Jack. Instead, Paul merely stopped and looked Patch straight in the face and asked "what happened?" with his signs. Patch nodded and led the two men into his old office at the end of the main ward.

"Patsy passed away three days ago, Paul," Patch began, looking the other man straight in the face as he spoke, "She was buried yesterday up in the grave yard on the hill. She was brought in here a week ago with vomiting and stomach pains. I thought it was just something she ate and kept her in overnight then, as she appeared to have recovered, let her go home the next day. Four days ago, she returned with the same symptoms, but this time more severe. Jack brought her in that evening, but couldn't stay as he'd left the kids on their own. When he returned the next morning to visit, she was gone. I've never seen anything like this. I keep thinking that if I'd only kept her in this might not have happened, but I can't explain it. When I sent her home six days ago, she was fine. A little edgy, but physically fine."

Paul nodded, staring at the bookcase on the far wall all the time, then signalled to Zac to wait outside for him. Turning back to Patch, he signed "Tell me the truth. What do you think could have caused it?"

Patch sighed, stared at his feet for a moment, then sat down behind his desk and motioned for Paul to sit down nearby. Once he had done so, Patch pushed his glasses up on his nose once more and opened a case file that he had extracted from his top drawer, the one that he kept locked.

"Anything of a sensitive nature, I keep in here," he told Paul, referring to the drawer, "Patsy's file is one of several that fall into this category. I know you haven't been here often over the last ten years Paul, so I feel I should tell you some background details that are publicly known, anyway, then some other details which I feel you, as her brother, have a right to know. Firstly, this was not the first time that Patsy had come in or been brought in with these and other symptoms. There have been numerous incidents over the past ten years that, alone, mean little, but together, look worrying. You know yourself that there was a major incident not long after Leo was born where your sister slashed her wrists: we were only just able to save her. The symptoms she had displayed recently were ones that could easily have been put down to a stomach upset; she had had them before after one of her husband's official dinners, as had a number of other guests. Other incidents had occurred with other symptoms that could just as easily be explained upon talking to Patsy and Jack, although Jack would usually be more able to come up with the reasons for his wife's illness.

After Leo's birth, when your sister unequivocally tried to take her own life, I diagnosed her with postnatal depression. I thought this had cleared up, as it usually does in time if the sufferer is given the necessary support. I am inclined, now, to believe that I was wrong in this diagnosis and that another form of depression was the cause. Looking back over Patsy's file, Paul, all the little incidents add up to some rather disturbing conclusions. All of the symptoms that your sister endured could, one way or another, have been inflicted by either Patsy herself or some other person. Given the amount of security surrounding your brother-in-law and his family, and taking into account your sister's frame of mind, I would say that Patsy herself must have been responsible for these illnesses. I believe that, due to some form of depression or mental anxiety, Patsy was in the habit of harming herself in ways that eventually led to her death. Do you understand, Paul?"

Paul nodded, slowly. Patch was saying that she killed herself and that she was not in her right mind when she did so. It wasn't that hard to understand, no matter how much padding he tried to give it to make the blow softer. Paul thanked Patch for being honest with him, then went out to join Zac. When they were out of the hospital, and out of sight of public eyes, Paul signed to Zac that Patch had thought Patsy had been mentally ill and killed herself. Zac signed that he was sorry for keeping Paul away for so long. Paul signed that it wasn't his fault, but anyway, he didn't think Patch was right.


	6. Part 6

Part 6

The sun rose slowly, it's warm light filtering through the remains of the once mighty city, breathing new life into the dying ruins of the Phoenix Mall. From amongst the ashes and aged burnt timbers that had all but disintegrated over the years, there was a movement. Yawning, Paul and Zac emerged from their hiding place. They would have to find water and wash their tribal markings off if they were to risk walking around the city in general, let alone visiting Paul's niece and nephew. There was no way he would even be allowed to talk to the City leader, his brother-in-law, if he was still an obvious member of a tribe.

About two hours after sunrise, the two men were flitting from back street to back street with clean clothes and clean faces. They were safe from the patrols, but saw no reason to risk bumping into Jack himself too quickly.

When they reached the school, they saw Salene arrive with her twin daughters, Rose and Violet, and unlock the school doors. The girls followed her inside. It had been a long time since he had seen the twins, but there was no mistaking them: they both had their mother's features, but with their father's dark hair. Paul sighed as he wondered if they even remembered their father and the heroic way in which he died. They would only have been three years old at the time.

A movement at his side made Paul look up to see Brady arriving with arms full of books. Like her cousin, she too resembled her father in looks, but her long dark hair came fully from Trudy, as did her personality.

About half an hour later, the students began arriving. First to arrive, of those that Paul and Zac could recognise, was Jackson, being dragged along by his other sister Falcon. He was quickly followed by an older boy with a round, handsome face and gentle features, whom Paul could only guess must be Ryan's son, Con. Martha walked alone to the school, her parents busy at the hospital. She stood outside and waited for a while, presumably waiting for Ellie, until another young girl arrived with dark brown hair twisted up in Zulu knots that made her look so much like her mother that Zac almost laughed. Paul could see the joy in his face at seeing his sister, Hope, who had been born only three months after the fire that had destroyed their home, the Mall.

Lastly, being dragged along by her father, Ellie arrived. Jack marched her up to the door of the school and turned her round to give her some instructions that even Zac couldn't hear before opening the door for her and shoving her inside. Turning back to where his son was standing waiting for him at the bottom of the school steps, Jack walked down and picked Leo up then, laughing with his son, walked off in the direction of the City Offices.

Once Jack and Leo were out of sight, Paul and Zac extricated themselves from their hiding places and headed for the school door. When they walked through the doors the scene that met Paul's eyes reminded him so much of the old types of schools that he smiled. There were groups of boys and groups of girls huddled round locker doors, talking about a group of girls or group of boys across the corridor. One of these groups contained Hope, whose eyes lit up at the sight of her brother, Martha and Ellie, whose eyes mimicked Hope's when she saw her uncle.

"Uncle Paul!" Ellie cried and ran up, flinging her arms around him.

Paul signed to ask her if she was okay and she replied with a shrug and a nod. Paul took that to mean that she was as alright as one could hope to be in the circumstances and that she didn't have much choice in the matter anyway. Putting his arm around her, he led his niece, her friends and Zac up to the door of Martha and Ellie's classroom.

On the way there, Con joined them to talk to Hope, who blushed under her brother's teasing grins. He wanted to know if she was doing anything that evening, a question which only made Hope blush deeper and introduce Con to her big brother who was standing right behind him. The poor boy took one look at Zac, stammered a polite greeting and promptly excused himself and hurried to class. The occurrence at least managed to cheer Ellie up a bit who, by the time they reached Brady's room and along with Martha had begun pestering Hope for reasons why she would not give in to the guy and go out with him. After all, he was _soooo_ cute and _soooo_ sweet and Hope was quite sure her brother would _never_ let her forget their reactions.

Brady was quite willing to let her cousin and Paul take charge of Ellie for the day, so long as they cleared it with Salene as she was ultimately in charge. Having done so, the three left the school and headed back to the Mall. There were questions that Paul needed answered and it would be best if they were done somewhere where Jack was not likely to overhear them.


	7. Part 7

Part 7

Patch sat in his office, updating his files on a few patients. There were other doctors now and he wasn't in quite so much demand. The city had been at peace for the past eight years, it was just such a shame that so many had died in the many fights and wars before then. He thought over what his daughter had told him about Jack's outburst at the funeral; it hadn't been totally unexpected, that was why he hadn't wanted her to go in the first place. What worried him more was the way Jack treated his daughter. Ellie was very young to lose her mother, even in this world. They had hoped to have left such things behind them when the city was up and running again, but this death wasn't due to something that civilisation could control or avoid. There was no way he could have told either of the children what he surmised to be the truth of their mother's death, especially not when their father had been so eager to sweep things under the table. If Jack found out he had told Paul, there was a fair chance he would pull some strings to punish him. But, Patch told himself, Paul was Patsy's brother and he had a right to know the truth.

The office door opened, bringing Patch out of his thoughts. Looking up, he saw his brother, the only one remaining now, standing in the doorway.

"Marc," Patch called, "come in. What's wrong?"

Marc's face was drawn and paler than it's normal pale complexion. There were dark bags around his bloodshot blue eyes and he looked as though he had been crying. His pale blond hair, cropped short, was messed up and he ran a hand through it as he walked over to his brother.

"It's Cloe," he gulped, frowning a little.

"What's happened?" Patch asked, his face contorting into a worried frown, "Is the baby okay?"

"Fine, fine," his brother nodded, his gaze flitting from foot to foot and never focussing on either, "it's nothing like that."

"Well, what is it?" Patch's voice softened as he realised he was being asked for help as a brother, not a doctor.

"She knows. I couldn't hide it."

"About the affair?"

Marc nodded. The tears began to form and he struggled to bring himself to speak.

"Once she knew, I-I had to tell her everything. It was what she wanted. She said we had to have no secrets if our marriage was going to work. She knows, Patch! I told her! I had to! I had to tell her that Ellie's _my_ daughter! Mine and Patsy's! And now I want to be with my little girl and look after her and comfort her and tell her that everything is okay, even though her mother's gone, that she'll always be there in her heart, because she loves her and because I love her and I can't because she doesn't know I'm her father. My wife knows but my daughter doesn't. She can't ever know."

As his brother crumpled up, as if he had been kicked in the stomach, Patch could only put a brotherly arm around his shoulders to support him and kick himself for not seeing what was right under his nose.


	8. Part 8

Part 8

"Bye, dad!" Lex's daughter called as she clattered down the hall stairs.

"Zara, get in here!" Lex shouted in reply.

Zara, Lex and Tai San's 18 year old daughter huffed and stomped into the room. She couldn't have been anyone else's daughter. She was as clever and devious as her mother and as stubborn as her father. In looks, she shared her long-dead mother's features. That was something Lex was thankful for, as he had precious little photographs of Tai San to remember her by. In dress sense, however, she shared her father's tastes and her short black hair, cut shorter at the back and longer at the front to frame her face, accentuated the black choker and crossover black and red top she wore, wrapped round and tied at the level of her ribs. The knee high buckled leather boots covered more of her legs than her black and red, studded leather miniskirt and the height of the heels on them put her on a level with her father as she looked him in the eye, daring him to say she looked nice.  
"Right," said Lex, once he saw what his daughter was wearing, "Who is he and does he know your father's the city sheriff?"

"Who's who, dad?" Zara asked, folding her arms defiantly.

"Well, you must be going out on a date dressed like that and I'd like to know who with and if you'll be safe with him. Especially when you're wearing THAT!"

"Do you really think that your being city sheriff would protect me much in _this_ city?" Zara answered. She hated being the sheriff's kid: it was a very sticky label. Everyone seemed to know her, but not as Zara, as The Sheriff's Daughter and that annoyed her.

"Well if you will go out wearing as little as that!" Lex stated, raising his voice a little: she could be as stubborn as her mother sometimes.

"Oh, take a chill pill, Dad, I'm only going over to Vi's," Zara sighed and turned on her heel to go. Lex shook his head at her.

"Well if you're gonna be late," her father said, causing her to pause slightly, but not turn back to face him, "stay there tonight and come back tomorrow. I don't want you walking the streets late at night looking like that."

Zara sighed again, in a tortured fashion, and stomped out of the house. Lex returned to the kitchen and his mug of tea.

"Feeling any better?" he asked his companion.

"Much," replied Amber, trying to stop herself laughing. Lex had done a good job bringing Zara up on his own. He had been so cut up when Tai San died giving birth that no-one had thought he would make it, but his daughter had given him a reason to carry on then and she still did now. The only problem now was that Lex's house was often a miniature war zone. Having already inherited much of her father's personality and having then grown up under his influence alone, Zara was much more like Lex than he would ever know. Amber could see it, Lex couldn't.

"Great," said Lex, putting his mug down again, "then let's get this dinner started."

"You don't have to do this you know."

"I know I don't _have_ to," he said, twirling one of her dark brown curls round his finger, "I want to. Besides, how often do you get the pleasure of my cooking skills at your disposal?"

He joked about it, but Amber knew that Lex was one of the best cooks in the city. There were a lot of things he was good at but didn't like everyone knowing. There were plenty of others that he did, such as his job, but most of the time he preferred to hide his abilities. Perhaps he was afraid that, if these talents were found out, people might start to expect more of him.

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Zara ran into the old ramshackle house in a disused sector of the city. Violet ran over to greet her lover with a kiss.

"Did you get out okay?" she asked her friend.

"Yes. He thought I was meeting some guy. When he heard it was you he just kind of thought "oh well: girls night in." He has no idea. How about yours."

"As if. Mom's too busy worrying about school or Rosie to bother about what I'm up to!"

The girls laughed and disappeared into the darkness of their hideout.


	9. Part 9

Part 9

Ellie sat facing her brother at the dinner table. Jack sat at the head of the table as usual, but the chair opposite him remained empty. Ellie would glance at it occasionally, and pick at her meal, but her father would always berate her with phrases like "I don't pay for a cook so that you can let your meal go cold, young lady" or "If you don't want that there are plenty out there who do". Ellie would sigh and try to eat while she watched her brother gobble up a second helping.

Jack watched his daughter carefully. Well, she wasn't actually his daughter, he knew. He had known for many years now. It didn't take a genius to work it out. Both he and Patsy had dark hair; Ellie's was a pale blonde, exactly like her namesake's. That had been an almost prophetic decision: to name their second child after another of the disappeared Mall Rats and have her turn out almost exactly like her in looks. Unfortunately, Jack was beginning to think they were rather too much alike in character too. The adolescent girl's strops and moods often reminded him of the girl from his past. Also, she showed a worrying investigative streak: that could be dangerous to him. Leo was his son through and through, and now he wouldn't have to worry about Patsy's meddlesome influence over him either, but Ellie was nothing to him except a threat.

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Paul watched Patch carefully as he told the deaf man about Marc's revelation. Paul had known that Ellie wasn't Jack's, his sister had told him that much, but he hadn't known who her father actually was. When Patch had finished his tale, Paul ran his hand through his tawny hair and sighed. If Jack knew that Ellie wasn't his, not a difficult thing for him to work out given the differences in looks and character between them, and if Paul's fears were justified, then Ellie could be in danger. At least, he told himself, she has a larger family now to look out for her; no wonder she and Martha got on so well!

Patch was worried too: he knew Jack's temper and blamed it for pushing Patsy not only to the edge, but right over it, regardless of whether or not Paul accepted his version of events. The only way Patsy could have deteriorated so quickly upon leaving the hospital was if she had taken some sort of overdose. No normal illness would have come and gone, then returned, so quickly and with such devastating consequences. Not from the symptoms he had seen that day. If Jack's temper could have such an effect on his wife, what would it do to the man who had almost succeeded in stealing her from him?

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Salene sat sipping her tea, primly, on the sofa in the living room of the small house she had found for herself and her daughters after Pride's death. She couldn't believe Violet had let her down again. She had known how important this dinner was. Marc and a rather heavily pregnant Cloe sat on the other sofa opposite her while they waited for their reliable offspring to emerge from the kitchen, having done the washing up. They didn't have long to wait.

Giggling slightly, Rose led Keller into the living room and the two stood facing their three parents. Salene smiled, she knew what was coming and she was glad to see her daughter so happy. Keller was a fine man. He shared his mother's dark skin, hair and eyes, but his form was his father's and his character a mixture of both.

"Momma, Pappa, Mrs Salene," Keller began, while Rose continued to giggle and gaze up at him adoringly, "Rosie and me have an announcement. You all know how much my Rose means to me and, well, just yesterday I asked her a very important question ... and she said yes. We're gonna get married. We wanted you to be the first to know."

"You promise me you'll take good care of my little girl, Keller," Salene warned, smiling through her tears. Pride would have loved to see this, she thought.

"I intend to, ma'am."

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In the depths of their hide-out, Violet lay in her lover's arms, fast asleep. The silvery tinkling of rain on the broken glass down the hall woke her.

"Shoot!" she cried sitting bolt upright as she noticed the darkness outside.

"What's wrong?" asked Zara, sitting up in the bed beside her and running her fingers up her lover's back.

"I'm late! I was meant to be home for dinner."

"Well, your always late for dinner."

"And who's fault's that?" Violet asked, leaning in to kiss Zara's cheek, "but no, this time was important. We had the "We Love Keller" gang round. I think they've finally decided to tie the knot."

"Rose and Keller, but that's good isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess. I suppose it means I get my perfect sister and her perfect boyfriend, sorry, fiancé, out of the house. Ugh, you have no idea what it's like having those two around being so lovey-dovey all the time. It's sickening!"

"Not big on romance are we, then?"

"Nah. Who needs it?"

"I couldn't agree more."

With that Zara pulled Violet back down into the bed and kissed her passionately. Once again, the dinner Violet had been so worried about was forgotten.

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Zac helped his mother clear up the dishes in the kitchen. His younger sister came in with some of her homework, which she had been sent to do.

"Mom?" Hope said, tentatively.

"Yes, honey? What's the matter?"

"Can you give me a hand with this? Uncle Lex says it's not his subject."

Amber looked over the homework in question. It was English grammar - definitely not Lex's "subject" as he put it. She tried not to laugh, but couldn't repress a smile.

"Okay, honey. If you read the two sentences on their own, do they make sense without each other?"

"No, but if you change the full stop to a comma they still don't make sense."

"So, what else can you use to join them. You remember, honey: it's halfway between a comma and a full stop ..."

"... so it has both. A semicolon, right?"

"That's right. Tell Uncle Lex I won't be long, will you."

Hope nodded and headed back through the living room, past Lex and up the stairs, pausing only to deliver her mother's message.

"You and Lex seem to have been getting very close while I've been away?" Zac commented.

"He's been a good friend to me. Since your father disappeared and Jack sent you and Paul away, he's been a tower of strength for me. It must have been hard, having Zara to deal with as well."

"You sound as if she's turned into a troublemaker."

"No, she's just turned into her father," Amber laughed as she caught a glimpse of Lex thumbing through old photos in the next room, oblivious to their conversation, "but just don't tell him that, okay!"


	10. Part 10

Part 10

Violet closed the door behind her, carefully. Everyone should be in bed by now. She should be safe. She would just go upstairs, go to bed and then get up and leave before her mother got up. The third stair creaked as she put her full weight on it. She froze. Someone moved in the living room, off to her right. As she heard her mother's voice call her, Violet's shoulder's slumped and she rolled her eyes, then turned and slunk down the stairs into the living room.

When her daughter entered the room, Salene switched on the table lamp beside her and stood up. There was something going on with Violet that Salene didn't know about; tonight she would find out what it was.

"Mom?" said Violet, sullenly, folding her arms and preparing to stand her ground.

Salene gulped. Violet could be very like her father at times. Right now, she reminded her of when Pride had got himself hooked on virtual reality.

"Where were you tonight?" Salene thought the direct approach was best.

"I was out. With a friend." Violet's tone remained defiant.

"Out where? With which friend? Doing what?"

"That has nothing to do with you."

"It has everything to do with me. I'm your mother. I asked you to be here for dinner. You agreed. Then you didn't show up. I want to know why. You knew dinner tonight would be important. I want to know what was so much more important that you missed it?"

"I was hanging out with Zara. You know: having fun! You do remember what that is Mom? Besides, dinner was only important to you and Rose: I don't care whether she's gonna marry that guy! It doesn't matter to me! Why should it?"

"She's your sister! That's why! This is family business. Families are important: you have to work at them, yes; but if you do, they are much more reliable than so-called _'friends'_ like _Zara_. You know I don't think much of that girl, she's just like her father. Why you seem to, I'll never know!"

"Because I love her!"

"You _what_!"

"I love her, Mom! Zara and me: we're lovers. You know, keeping up the _family_ tradition!"

As Violet stormed off to her room, Salene was left shell-shocked. She didn't know how to react: what to say or do next. She had prepared herself for many things, but not this. She hated Lex and his daughter. Violet knew that, but she had still persisted in forming a friendship with Zara. No, wait: a relationship!

Salene knew Violet had always blamed her for Pride's death. The girls had only been three years old when the fire had burnt down the mall, their home, along with much of the rest of city centre. Rose didn't remember anything from back then: she'd blocked it out.

Violet, on the other hand, remembered every detail. She remembered her father leaving her and her sister with Tai San, Trudy and Amber when he couldn't find their mother. She remembered him going back into the burning building with Bray and May to look for Salene, Lex, Ebony, Jack, and baby Dal. She remembered only Bray and Jack coming back out. She remembered her mother and Lex running up from behind the growing crowd. She remembered Lex trying to hold Salene back as she screamed for her husband. She remembered the look on Tai San's face as she watched the two. Violet paused at the door to her room as the memories flooded back through her mind. Her father had tried to rescue Dal and her mother and because her mother hadn't been in the mall, both her father and Dal had died. They had found him trapped under the fallen phoenix fountain, curled around the baby, trying to protect him. Both were dead when they were found.

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Zac sat with his back against the blackened ruins of the mall while Paul stirred a pot over a small fire. He had loved the mall. He and his cousin, Brady, had grown up here. Now it was a ruin. It had always puzzled him why the mall had burnt down. They knew the mall had been the start of the fire, but no-one knew how it had started. His father had tried to find out. Ten years ago he had thought he was on to something, then he had disappeared. When he was a bit older, and had finished school, Zac and Paul had teamed up to find him and find out what he had found out about the fire. When they had eventually asked a few too many questions to the wrong people, they had been banished. Now, more than ever, Paul was sure that they were on the right track and Zac was sure that his father was dead.


	11. Part 11

Part 11

Salene sat at her desk chewing the end of her pencil. In her mind she went over the events of the previous night and the night of the fire, so many years ago. She'd always suspected that Violet remembered more than her sister of that night, but she'd never realised just how much her daughter had known. Of course any of the older Mall Rats could have told her, but they wouldn't have; no, not even Lex. It wasn't the affair that had made her hate him; it wasn't even the fact that she'd been in bed with him while her husband had been dying, searching for her in a fire: that was as much her fault as his. Salene hated Lex because of what had happened next.

_"Pride! No! Let me go!" Salene screamed as she fought against Lex to reach the burning building._

"There's nothing you can do, Sal!" Lex told her, his arms tight around her, "Don't go making the girls orphans."

"No! Pride! He needs me!"

"He's in there because he thought you needed him!" Tai San cut in, her tone and glare slicing through Salene like a knife, "You and Lex! He thought you were in there; that's why he went back in!"

"H-he went back in?"

"Him, Bray and May. To get you two and the others out. It should be you in there, not him!"

"W-who else is in there?"

"Ebony, Jack, Dal, as far as we know, anyway."

Tai San turned and walked away. Salene felt Lex's arms slacken off around her and tried to run, but the sheriff's reactions were faster and she was once again held tightly in his arms. Ironically, for all their secret trysts over the past few months, that was the last place she wanted to be at that moment. Her eyes fell, helplessly, to her daughters: Rosie's head was snuggled against Trudy's coat, but Violet was standing staring straight at her mother. The accusation in the three-year-old's eyes was unbearable and Salene closed her eyes, silently, as the tears rolled down her face.

While the tears returned to her face, Salene slammed the pencil down on the desk. She'd gone there to end it, but Lex had persuaded her to stay; he had promised her that he would leave Tai San, that they would be together. She had been torn between to them, but when they had seen the orange sky, all decisions had faded into that fiery glow; then, after one of her choices had been removed permanently, he had left her: he had gone back to his wife.

The school day was almost over anyway. Salene pulled on her coat and walked out of her office and out of the school. Lex would be coming off duty now and, if she was lucky, she would meet him when he reached home.

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Lex finished his briefing to the deputy sheriff who was taking over from him at the end of his shift. Carrying his hat in his hand, he walked briskly home, the greying hair around his temples blowing out behind him in the afternoon breeze. He saw her as soon as he rounded the corner to his house. For all that he hadn't seen or spoken to her in fifteen years, she was still an attractive woman, not that she would ever have him now.

"Salene?" he said, tentatively, when he reached his door, "What are you doing here?"

"You're late."

"I've heard that before!"

"Don't joke, Lex. Not about that."

"Look, why are you here, Sal? Or did you just come to let me know that you're still holding a grudge after all these years?"

"He died in that fire!"

"And you didn't! Now come on, why are you here?"

"We need to talk."


	12. Part 12

Part 12

"They're _what_!"

Lex's voice echoed through his small house. He ran one hand through his greying hair and hit the wall with the other. As he leant against the wall, staring at his feet and trying to tell himself there was nothing wrong with it, that Tai San would have been okay with it, she would have been more supportive. As the initial anger and confusion died away, the feeling of loss and sadness entered his mind and the thought prevailed that he would never be a granddad, probably never even be able to give his daughter away at her wedding. Panic set in: was it something he had done, the way he had brought her up? Perhaps he should have let Trudy or Amber look after her, but they had had their own families to take care of then.

Salene watched him with an amused look on her face. She had known he would take it badly, Lex was known for being a bit old fashioned when it came to his daughter, but she hadn't expected quite as explosive a reaction. Still, this was Lex: he would storm around for a bit then calm down and see the rational side of things. As far as Salene was concerned, if Violet was a lesbian then that's what she was and nothing would change it. There was no point shouting about it; that would only cause even more problems between them. What irked Salene was her daughter's choice of lovers: she had to pick the one girl Salene didn't approve of, not least because of who her father was and how like him she was. Salene could see Zara being as much of a womaniser as her father, given half a chance, and that meant that Violet could get hurt.

"They are lovers, Lex," she said again quietly, "Now don't pretend you don't know what that means, I know you better than that!"

"I know what it means: it means I'm never gonna have grandkids!"

"Typical Lex: always thinking of himself!"

"Well the girls themselves seem quite happy about it, I don't see why I need to worry about them!"

"And you don't think this affects anyone else, do you?"

"Why should it, it's their business?"

"It affects _us_ Lex."

"There is no _us_: there hasn't been for a long time. Not since …"

"Not since the fire? No, perhaps not; but there was before then and that's when it ended with a rather memorable scene: a scene memorable enough to stick in my daughter's head so much that she blames me for her father's death, even more than I do. She's doing this to punish me: she knows I don't like her spending time with Zara …"

"Hey, there is nothing bad about my daughter!"

"Except that she's turning into her father! Do you know what Violet said to me, Lex? She said she was "keeping up the family tradition"! She knows about the affair and she hates me for it."

"What do you want me to do about that? She must hate me even more: I was the other man!"

"I don't know. I just know that I've been losing my daughter since that day and now it feels like I've lost her completely, to your daughter, and you are the only person I can talk to about it."

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Ellie was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, when she heard her father call her down to dinner. It had been two weeks since her mother died and now it seemed like she was the only one who remembered Patsy at all, her and her Uncle Paul of course. As she dragged herself down the stairs she wondered if there was any way she could sneak out tonight to see Uncle Paul and Zac. She knew the way to the old mall well enough, even in the dark, but she had been so tired recently that she might just go straight to bed after dinner. She really should go and see them sometime soon. It had been a while since she was last there and this tiredness had always stopped her going since then. The young girl worried about them: she knew what they were trying to find out and was afraid she knew the answer to their questions all too well.

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Paul let Zac take his turn at cooking while he sat with his back to the wall, watching the open sky above him. They had been lucky so far, but it would only be a matter of time before Jack found out they were there and sent the militia to arrest them. They were wanted men: banished from the city for the rest of their lives, they risked a ten year interment in the mines should they be caught within its boundaries. Ten years in the mines was as good as a death sentence.

It was worrying that they hadn't seen Ellie for so long. Paul knew that if Jack suspected Ellie knew anything about his true nature, she would be in danger; this was even more the case if Jack knew that Ellie was not, as Patch had made a point of mentioning last time Paul saw him, his daughter. He hoped that she would visit them some time soon, so that he could tell her where they would be moving to. There was no way they could risk going to the school again: the other Mall Rats might be willing to conceal their presence from Jack as much as they could, but if they did get caught, especially at the school, it would give Jack the excuse he needed to get rid of the lot of them.


	13. Part 13

Part 13

Ellie stumbled as she made her way through the darkened city as carefully and quickly as her exhausted body could. Every now and then she would pause and listen, catching her breath as she did so, in case she was being followed. As she neared the remains of the Phoenix Mall, blackened buildings rising like solid shadows on either side of her, she fell forward, tripping over a charred and rotting timber. No-one had ever bothered to clear up the remains of this part of the city, other than was necessary to get the bodies out. Ellie cried out as she hit the ground, grazing her knees and hands; as she rose to dust herself off, she noticed that the rotten timber had dislodged a pile of others when she walked into it. Where the timbers had been there was now a gaping black hole in a wall, made all the more apparent by the foul stench pouring out of it. As her stomach heaved, Ellie turned and ran, stumbling a few times, but not caring who heard her, to the mall.

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"What was that?" Falcon asked, hearing one of Ellie's minor crashes as she fled through the ruined city.

"It's just my heart beating, babe," her companion replied.

"Denver, behave," she giggled as the young man wrapped her closer in his arms, "I heard someone out there."

"So?"

"So, what if they see us?"

"Who cares," as the boy shrugged, his unruly red hair could be seen in the moonlight, "Anyway, no-one comes down here now. That's why we're here."

"I know, but ..."

"Maybe it's one of the ghosts of the victims of the fire. Maybe it's Ebony, come back to warn us off her pitch."

"Don't joke, I'm being serious. I heard something and there's no such thing as ghosts."

"Not unless you live in my house anyway."

"Yeah, well."

"I swear my Mom still thinks my old man's gonna come back some day like nothing ever happened. She told me herself how he died: trying to sell that Guardian guy to the people that wanted to beat him up. Apparently she went weird enough then. She's been absolutely potty since her sister died."

"Who can blame her: Ellie committed suicide didn't she? Some kind of overdose?"

"Yep."

"But, anyway, can we go check out that noise. Please, Den, I'd hate to think there was someone spying on us."

"Well, that depends," Alice's son's voice became teasing again as he spoke, "What's in it for me?"

"Oh, you'll get your reward," Falcon replied in the same teasing tone, "You know that."

The two lovers moved through the city towards where the noise had originated from, but changed course when they heard another small crash and cry. Denver was the first to spot Ellie, stumbling through the moonlit darkness. Holding Falcon's hand, the two followed closely.

"Now I wonder where my aunt's little namesake is going at this time of night?"

"Do you think she's alright, Den: she looks a bit weird, like she's drunk or something?"

"Tsk tsk, stealing wine from her father's table! God only knows he's the only person in the city that can get his hands on the stuff!"

"She's gone in somewhere," Falcon strained her eyes to see the building, "I think it's the old mall. What's she doing there?"

"Wait, here she comes again. Hey, there's two people with her."

"Isn't that Zac?"

"He shouldn't be here!"

"There's a price on his head!"

"Really? How much?"

"Denver! You wouldn't!"

"Heck, yeah I would! I could do with some extra cash!"


	14. Part 14

Part 14

Ellie watched silently as Paul edged, tentatively, into the gloomy, foul smelling cavern. Zac stood at the entrance to the crumbling building, holding a torch with one hand and Ellie with the other. They could see the light of Paul's torch shining in sharp contrast to the heavy blackness around him.

Paul advanced warily, fully conscious of what could be causing the smell. The torch he carried cast a wavering orange-tinged circle over the blackened, charred timbers that lay strewn across the floor of the building; it's light did not reach high enough to see the roof. In the rancid gloom, Paul could make out a shape somewhat less sharp than the many burnt timbers. As the shape came into view, Paul gagged: it was a skeleton.

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Denver led Falcon through the charred streets. They moved quickly and quietly, following the route that Paul and Zac's torches had picked out for them. Falcon followed her boyfriend dutifully, but grudgingly: she was beginning to wonder if her mother had been right. Trudy had always told her that Denver was just like his father: that he cared about nothing but himself and money. She had never believed her, had defended him and said that he really cared about her. Now she wasn't so sure.

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The skeleton had obviously been in the building for years: the bones were clean and dry. From the scraps of clothing that remained, however, Paul could tell that the previous owner of this body and not been burnt to death and, upon closer inspection, there was a large portion of the skull smashed. Whoever this person had been, they had died a violent death.

The colours of the tattered fabrics clinging to the skeleton had stayed the same with no light to fade them, but they were so decayed that it was difficult for Paul to make out anything else about them. There were no rings or bracelets that might have identified the body, but around the bony neck of the skeleton there lay a leather thong that was still intact. Upon it there was a ring. Amber's ring.


	15. Part 15

Part 15

"Momma?" Hope queried, confused by her mother's blank silence.

Lex sat down on the arm of the comfy old chair Amber was curled up in and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She looked so lost right now that he thought she looked as young as she had when he first met her, 23 years ago. So much had happened since then. She had grown up; so had he. Her hair was almost back to its natural dark brown, apart from the blonde tips that she still refused to cut off. They had both changed so much, become so much stronger, but inside they were still the same and they still had their weaknesses. He wanted to be there for her when she needed him: to give her his strength when her own was not enough. God, how he loved her, but now was not the time.

"Mom, are you okay?" Zac asked. It had been an hour since he and Paul had broken the news to his mother and sister. Hope was upset, but could barely remember her father so the shock wasn't as bad for her. Amber had sat in the same chair, in the position, since Zac had told her. She hadn't moved; hadn't said one word; hadn't shed one tear.

Slowly, still shaking, she nodded, her eyes still staring blankly forward. She felt Lex's grip on her shoulder tighten. Thank God he was there, she thought. Vaguely, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her son rise and lead his sister out of the room. She saw Paul's feet follow them. Alone with the one person left who knew her through and through, Amber turned and cried into Lex's chest.

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Trudy stood at the bottom of the stairs in her hallway and yelled up to her daughter.

"Falcon, your breakfast is on the table. It's up to you whether you let it get cold or not."

Returning to her place at the breakfast table, she sat down opposite her husband, Hawk, with Brady on one side of her and Jackson on the other. There were two empty places at the table: one with a plate in front of it for Falcon, if and when she decided to come down to join them, and one for Merlin, Trudy and Hawk's first son, who had been sent to the mines eight years ago. He only had two years of his term left to serve, if Jack didn't change the law again, but, for all his wife's optimism, Hawk was certain he would never see his son again. He had been a broken man ever since Merlin, his first-born child, had been sent away. He was just a boy when he went: just 11 years old. There was no way such a child could survive ten years in those mines. Now his only daughter was heading down the same path. Falcon didn't know it, but when her older brother had been sent away, it was for no fault of his own. Merlin's only crime had been being friends with Denver. By rights, it should have been Alice's son that was punished, not Hawk's.

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Falcon lay, curled up on her bed. She wasn't in her bed, she had been up and dressed for an hour or so already. All she could think about was the stench from the hole that Denver had led her into last night, after Paul, Zac and Ellie had departed, and the sight of the skeleton they had found there. She knew it was Bray: she was old enough to remember him well and she had recognised that ring as if it were a name tag. The only dilemma Falcon was left with was whether or not to tell her mother. Surely Zac would have told Amber by now, so Trudy and Hawk wouldn't be the first to know. Besides, Trudy would want to know. The only things that stopped her were the facts that she had been with Denver at the time and what she knew he had threatened to do. Whether or not he was capable of handing Zac over, purely for the money, she didn't know, but she certainly wasn't sure he had merely been bluffing.

Perhaps if she told her parents how her feelings toward Denver had changed since last night, they wouldn't be so hard on her. They had to know. She had to tell them. She had to tell them everything. Sitting up slowly, she walked, trance-like down the stairs and into the kitchen where only her parents and Brady now remained. Good, she thought, Brady needs to hear this too, but Jackson doesn't.


	16. Part 16

Part 16

It was a day for memories.

_Amber stood at the far side of the kitchen table. She'd been baking bread. The smell filled the small house their family inhabited. She looked across the table at her daughter. Hope was only two years old. She was giggling as her father tried to feed her some breakfast._

"_Mom, have you seen my homework?" Zac called as he raced down the stairs._

"_It's right here where you left it," Amber called in answer, "Come on Zac, you'll be late for school!"_

_The nine year old rushed into the kitchen like a bullet, grabbed the tattered and dog-eared jotter and turned to dart back out again._

"_Breakfast!" Amber called before he left the room._

"_No time! Late!" Zac cried._

"_Listen to your mother, Zac!" Bray called._

_The boy stopped, sighed and stomped back to the table. He grabbed a chunk of the fresh bread and an apple then turned and headed off again._

"_I'll eat it on the way," he called back as he dashed out of the house._

"_He takes after you, you know," Amber said, smiling, "You were never an early riser when I first knew you."_

"_But I changed, didn't I," Bray retorted, walking round to his wife and running his hand through her still blonde ringlets, "A man finds it easy to change when its for the woman he loves."_

"_Regardless of the fact that she wouldn't care if he had changed or not, so long as he loved her."_

"_He does," he said, kissing her gently, "He always will. I swear it."_

"_I know," said Amber, returning his kiss, gently, "And I'll always love you, no matter what."_

_Hope managed to shatter the mood with a peal of babyish laughter that sent her parents into a fit of giggles. Bray was the first to sober. He loved watching Amber laugh. He loved everything about her._

"_I'm the luckiest man alive," he said, quietly._

_Amber caught the whisper and held his gaze, smiling up at him adoringly._

"_And just you remember it," she said._

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_Trudy was playing with her daughter, Falcon. The bouncing two year old was carefully stacking brick on top of brick until the column got so high it toppled over, at which point she would invariably start again, her mother handing her some of the bricks that had toppled out of the child's reach._

"_Thee'll never make it thtay up if thee keepth building it like that!" lisped a three year old Merlin, his thick, dark, black hair sticking out at all angles as he looked up from his blocks._

_Trudy sighed. Her son would be a builder, surely. Ever since he had first sat down with those block he had been building things. This time he had built a fort in front of him, it was slightly wobbly, but it was definitely a fort, and he was carefully pushing blocks out of the wall where he wanted the door and windows. Trudy smiled, wondering if Ryan would take him into an apprenticeship when he was older. Her motherly meditations were interrupted when Bray burst in at the door._

"_Baby!" he gasped, still trying to catch his breath from his mad dash around the corner to Trudy's house, "Baby! On way! Contractions! Coming fast! Too early! Help!"_

"_Bray, calm down!" Trudy cried, picking up Falcon and taking Merlin's hand, "Here, you take Merro and we'll go round. Where's Zac?"_

"_At school. Where's Hawk?"_

"_Work. One of us has to be earning these new credits!"_

"_You know, we'd gladly pay you, Trude. You should get yourself registered as a midwife. You're the best we've got."_

"_With two kids to look after? I don't think so! No, we'll struggle by."_

"_You know, if you need anything, you can always come to us."_

"_I know. Look here we are."_

Trudy smiled, sadly as the memory of the day of Hope's birth faded. He had been true to his word, Bray. Whenever she needed anyone, he and Amber were always there.

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Ellie sat at her desk, chewing her pencil. Martha was sitting next to her, concentrating doggedly on her work. Ellie was worried. Normally, she would speak to Martha about all her worries, but her friend had been unusually quiet for the past week. It seemed like she was avoiding her, or hiding something from her at the very least. Ellie wondered if, perhaps, she had overheard her parents talking about Patsy's death and maybe her father, Patch, had been saying that he'd found something new. The more time Ellie spent with Zac and her uncle Paul, the more she found out about the past and the more she wondered about her mother's sudden death. In the midst of her daydreaming, she heard Rose call her name and dutifully turned her attention back to her studies.


	17. Part 17

Part 17

The scene around the blackened fountain was, to Ellie's eyes, amazing. The remaining Mall Rats, except Jack, of course, and Alice, who rarely came down to the city these days, stood in a rough semicircle with Ellie, Paul and Zac in the focus of that group, beneath the now one-winged and charred fountain. At one side of the semicircle stood Falcon with Brady, Jackson, Hawk and Trudy, then Amber, with Hope on the other side of her, then Con with his parents, Ryan and Helena, standing behind him and Lex, his godfather, next to him. Zara stood next to her father, with Violet next to her. Salene stood between her daughters with Keller and his parents next to Rose. Patch stood next to his brother, with Dee and Martha beside him.

It was late, but Ellie hadn't gone home after school; instead, she had gone straight to her uncle Paul in the ruins of the Mall. Not long after they had eaten, the other ex-Mall Rats had started to arrive. Now they were all here, as many as had survived anyway. So many of them had been lost over the years. Jay had been one of the first to go after the Techno's defeat: he left in search of his brother and never returned. Ved and Siva had disappeared with the Techno's. Ellie had died not long after Patsy and KC had returned, by her own hand it seemed, making her sister descend fully into madness. Ebony, May, Pride and baby Dal had all died in the Mall fire and the Mall Rats, while sorry for their friends, counted themselves lucky there were no more casualties. Tai San, along with her and Lex's son, had died in childbirth. Bray had disappeared and had now turned up dead. Most recently, KC had died of a fever, a few months ago now, and Patsy had died of an overdose. Now they were back where they started: in the Mall where they became a tribe, the Mall they would never have entered without Jack's permission. Now they were here to decide: had their comrade from the start betrayed them all?

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"_Jay, I'm coming with you!" Ebony yelled, hysterically, "Siva was MY sister; if you are going looking for her and Ved, I should be going with you!"_

"_You are in no state to travel," Jay told her, gently, "You just lost a baby, Ebony! Our baby. Our son. You have to rest."_

"_Then stay until I'm better. Don't leave me Jay! I need you! Now, more than ever!"_

"_I have to go look for them, Ebony. I'm the only one at all familiar with the Techno systems, except Jack and he won't help. I'm the only one with a chance of finding them and getting them out of wherever they are. And I can't put it off, Ebony. You know that. Winter is nearly here. If I wait until next spring to leave, and they are on the move, I'll lose them."_

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"_Ellie, I'm allowed to worry about you: I'm your sister!" Alice's voice rang out through the old farm house._

"_I love Jack, Alice!" her sister replied, heatedly, "You are not talking me out of this. I don't understand you! You used to like Jack and now, now that I agree to marry him, you decide he's the worst thing since Zoot!"_

"_It's not 'just' since you agreed to marry him, Ellie! It's ever since he got back! That cute, little, red-haired nerd of yours has turned into the geek from hell!"_

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"_Ebony!" May called as she raced through the burning corridor, "Ebz! Where are you!"_

"_May!" Ebony choked as she stumbled into the corridor._

_For a second, May saw her, then her image was swallowed up by the smoke. She pressed onward, determined to reach the girl who had now become her best friend. She reached her just as Ebony dropped to the floor._

"_Come on Ebz. We've got to get out of here!"_

"_Just go. This smoke has got me anyway!"_

"_I am NOT leaving without you!"_

"_Why not? Jay did."_

"_He'll come back. You know he will. You've got to be there when he does."_

"_He's never coming back! He's gone! Dead! He killed him! I know it! Just like he's killing us now!"_

"_Who? Ebony, what are you talking about?"_

"_Look out!"_

_Ebony's reaction to the crumbling ceiling was to pull her friend out of where she thought the rubble would land. Fate, however, doesn't let her victims escape so easily and, as the two girls tumbled backwards, they were followed by one of the heavy support beams that had cascaded down from the floor above. With the beam lying across the two, now unconscious, young women, the fire burned and fate won another two lives._

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_

"_Trudy, do something!" Lex cried, hysterically, as Tai San screamed in pain from the room above._

_Lex held his young daughter close and shielded her ears from her mother's cries. He rocked and sobbed in fear and desperation, all the time watching Trudy, Amber, Hawk and Bray who surrounded him._

"_I can't Lex. My hands are tied."_

"_That woman doesn't know what she's doing!"_

"_She's the only midwife in this sector."_

"_You've always been our midwife!"_

"_But I can't be now. I'm not registered. Under the new laws I can't do anything."_

_The screaming above stopped abruptly. Lex's face turned white, his raven hair accentuating the effect. His eyes flashed from Trudy to Amber, Amber to Bray, Bray to Hawk and back to Trudy. The midwife walked into the room but Lex knew what she was going to say before she had even opened the door._

"_I'm sorry," the older girl said, "We lost them both."_


	18. Part 18

Part 18

Paul was the first to call the group to attention as they encircled the fallen phoenix. With Zac translating his signs fro those who could not understand them as fluently, he addressed the small crowd.

"We have gathered you here," Zac said, watching his companion's hands more than the surrounding faces, all listening intently, "to pull together the knowledge and suspicions we have gathered over the past fifteen years. Ten years ago an old friend of ours, without whom the Mall Rats would never have been formed, came into power as City Leader. Even before he did so, his influence over the city and the way it was run was worrying to most, if not all, of us. Since becoming City Leader, that power and influence has become extreme and our worries have only increased. There are those of our number, our "family" from the early days of this new world, who are no longer with us. Again, most, if not all, of us fear that, whether directly or indirectly, their deaths have been caused or hastened by one person, the person we must now join together to stop any more people suffering the same fate. Our City Leader and, unfortunately, my niece's father, Jack."

"He's not her father," Cloe's voice cut through the silence of the assembled Mall Rats like a scythe, a sweeping murmuring following it round the arc of people. Marc looked sharply at his wife, who held her head high and stared straight at Ellie for a few seconds, as if taking in every little similarity. Patsy had been her best friend. This was her daughter. There were so many aspects of Patsy's character in her, but there was more: Ellie's looks didn't come from Patsy; they certainly didn't come from Jack. With every little thing Cloe looked at, she could see more and more of the likeness of Ellie's true father: her husband.

"Momma?" Keller said, looking at his mother with a confused frown.

"She's right," Marc told them, then, turning to look Ellie straight in the face, he said, quite simply "I am."

Ellie's mouth gaped, then she shut it suddenly, aware of everyone watching her. She felt her uncle's hand tighten on her shoulder. She saw Patch put his hand on his brother's shoulder to steady him. She saw Martha watching her. She saw a grin grow on her best friend's, no, her _cousin's_, face. She couldn't help smiling back. For the past few years that she had felt a growing hatred of the man she had called her father. As much as it hurt to feel that she had been deceived for so long, it lifted the guilt she felt for that hatred of Jack. She was more certain than ever that her mother's death had been due to him.

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_Ellie looked up at her mother. She looked tired, shattered in fact, but she still worked hard to keep have the place tidy for when her husband returned._

"_Momma?" Ellie's small voice piped up worriedly, "Are you alright?"_

"_Yes, honey," Patsy replied, smiling down at her young daughter, briefly, before returning to her work, "Momma's just tired. Can you check on your new brother for me?"_

"_Yes, Momma," the four year old said as she toddled over to her brother's crib. She liked being a big sister. It made her feel all grown up. She was a big help to her Mommy, looking after her little brother._

_Hearing a thud behind her, Ellie turned round to see her mother in a heap on the floor. She screamed, then immediately berated herself: she was a big girl now, her Mommy trusted her to look after her brother, now she should look after Mommy. Ellie toddled back over to her mother's side and dropped to her small, chubby, knees._

"_Momma?" Ellie said, shakily. She lifted a chubby hand and shook her mother gently, "Mommy, please wake up."_

They had said she'd taken too many pills, that she'd been depressed, that it would pass. It did for a while, but then she got worse again. Off and on for seven years she would be ill like that. Now she was dead.


	19. Part 19

Part 19

Jack sat with his son at the long table in their dining room, eating their evening meal. He hadn't seen Ellie since that morning when he had sent her and Leo off to school. Leo had walked home alone, bringing a story of having seen Ellie go off with Mrs Salene and her two daughters. There was something going on. Jack was sure of it.

He had looked after his old friends. He had made sure they were in high ranking positions all through their sector of the city: Salene was the school mistress; Amber, the judge; Lex, the sheriff; Ryan, the Chief Mason; KC was head of the Guild of Traders, until his death earlier that year, and had managed the marketplace and trade into and out of the city; Patch and Dee ran the hospital and Hawk ran the power station. Trudy had chosen to stay at home with her children and Cloe had recently retired as a lawyer to give birth to her second child, well, fourth, if you count the miscarriages. He had been good to them, given them so much, but he still got the feeling they resented him.

He wondered if they knew, if they had worked it out, that he had been the one to set them on their way back to normality. He had done it for their own good. He had taken risks to set them on the right path, the path Ram's people had shown him. Some of those risks had paid off: he was City Leader, running the city the way he was sure his mentor would have wanted. Others hadn't: he had lost his firstborn son, his only son at that time, and a great part of his city had been destroyed, much more than he'd bargained for. They had never figured it out before, he told himself, why should they now? The only people who had come close were Bray and that meddling son of his. Now, Bray was long dead and his son banished on pain of death. He wouldn't dare come back, would he?

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Once Paul had finished addressing the Mall Rats, Zac took over, casting a pained glance over to his mother and sister before he did so.

"It pains me to bring this up, but, as some of you already know, the remains of my father were recently found about two blocks from where we are, still within the burnt sector. From the skeleton, we could tell that he had been murdered," Zac paused while a ripple of gasps, cries and exclamations ran round the arc. He cast another glance at his mother and saw her holding onto Hope tightly.

"I can't believe it!" Ryan was saying, "Who would do that to Bray?"

"The same person who killed my mother and who burnt down this Mall!" Ellie cried, "The same person who banished Zac and my Uncle, who sent Merlin to the mines when he was just a child and who is trying to kill me. Don't you see it? He's caused you so much pain! From my memories and from what my Uncle has told me it seems clear to me who is responsible!"

Paul silenced her by placing his hands on Ellie's small shoulders and drawing her close to him.

"She's right," Zac continued, "You all know why Paul and I were banished. We went looking for my father and found too much. It was Jack who banished us. All he did was prove to us that he had something to hide. We're sure Patsy's death and Alice's sister, Ellie's death were caused by Jack: they are far too similar to not be linked. We are also sure that he has been trying to dispose of our Ellie the same way. Patch agrees that she is starting to show the same symptoms as both of Jack's wives. We have to stop him now before anyone else is hurt. If we act together, he can't, surely, banish all of us without raising the city."

There were murmurs and nods circulating around the arc. The only person standing silently, deep in thought, was Lex.

"I'm not so sure," Lex said, suddenly, causing everyone to turn and look at him intently, "We can't rush into anything, we have to be careful. I'll wager Jack has a lot more power than we credit him with. He sure has had to have a lot more guts and brains to get this far on his own. Look at us: we're most of us in powerful positions, but they're precarious ones. You, Zac, and Paul are both fugitives. If you two are caught, you're dead. I'm sorry, Amber, but it's true. Plus, if Amber and I are caught with you, we're dead and any of the rest of you caught out are off to the mines, just for consorting with you. He doesn't need a better reason. You two are a liability."

"If we leave, we're taking Ellie with us," Zac said, meeting Lex's gaze, "She's not safe here."

"Good idea!" Cloe chimed in.

"Cloe!" Marc snapped, then, his tone softening as he turned to Zac, "Take her with you if you must: I'd rather my daughter was safe."

Zac and Paul nodded once, then Zac spoke again.

"There is an election in a couple of months. If Jack wins it, he will be more powerful than ever. We cannot allow that to happen. We must either bring him down before the election, or beat him in it. Anyone who stands, however, runs the risk of being taken out of the running the same way as my father was. He tried to stop Jack that way once before and he found out that Jack would do anything to secure his place as City Leader. I would rather we brought him down before anything like that could happen again."

"As I said before," said Lex, "Jack gave most of us powerful positions. Ones from which the fall could break us or worse. I say we use them to bring about his fall. It'll take a lot of planning, but it could work and it would have the least risk, especially if Zac Paul and Ellie are kept out of everything."

"Sounds like Lexy man has a plan!" said a voice from the blackened doorway.


	20. Part 20

Part 20

The group turned to look at the newcomer: it was Alice.

"Alice, what are you doing here?" Amber asked, quickly summarising the thoughts of the other Mall Rats present.

"I keep my ear to the ground."

"Are you okay?" Lex queried. Everyone was wary of Alice's madness.

"My sister's long dead, and for all Jack wants me to believe she killed herself, I can't and won't believe that, and my boy is no better than his father and a spy to boot. Yeah, I'm fine, Lex. Just peachy! Believe me: I know you all think I'm mad, but I'm not. I know Jack killed Ellie. I know how he did it. I know why he did it. I just didn't want him to know I knew that. When your own son would be willing to turn you in for a bit of cash, well, you gotta find ways of making sure he doesn't find out. I couldn't bring him down alone."

"You're not alone now, Al," said Ryan, gently.

"Yeah, and I'm still not talking to you," she replied harshly. Ryan hung his head. He remembered all too well the incident she was alluding to.

_Ryan sat, staring into the fire, wondering what to do. The city fire had taken its toll on all of them, mentally as well as physically. Everyone had changed, especially those who had lost someone close. People had turned to each other for comfort. Some had turned away from those who loved them to seek solace in the arms of someone new. He had been one of them. He hadn't counted on it being anything serious, just a temporary dalliance, a phase he was going through. He had told himself it would pass. It hadn't passed. He was still with her, and now she was pregnant, with his baby. He had to tell her, had to tell his wife, about the baby and his mistress, about Helena. He wasn't looking forward to it: Alice had had enough to deal with, between Denver's antics, losing Ellie and now, losing the baby too, their baby. Now she was losing him. It wasn't fair on her, he knew, but it would be less fair to keep her in the dark, especially if she found out from some one else. Hearing a noise behind him, he looked up._

"_Hi, honey. I'm home," called Alice, jovially. At least she was in a good mood, Ryan thought._

"_Hi," he said, his brow creasing with worry over how she was going to take the news._

"_What's up?" Alice asked, suspicion setting in immediately. Her husband had been distant for a while now, a few months at least. There was something going on, something he was hiding from her. At first she thought it was just the miscarriage, but he hadn't reacted like this first time round._

"_We need to talk," Ryan sighed at the use of the old cliché, "I'm sorry, Al, you're not gonna like this."_

"_What is it, Ryan?" Alice sat down as she spoke._

"_Um, well, I…"_

"_Spit it out, Ry."_

"_I've been seeing someone. Someone else."_

"_I thought so. It's been months hasn't it."_

"_Yeah."_

"_So why are you telling me now?" Alice's voice shook with hidden rage and fear._

"_I'm leaving."_

_Alice stared at him for a moment, taking in the news, hoping he would lift his eyes to meet hers and say he was sorry: sorry for the pain he'd caused her, sorry for ruining their marriage. His eyes stayed fixed on the floor. She turned her head away._

"_Go then," there was no feeling in her voice, nothing that told Ryan whether she even cared._

"_Al,"_

"_Go. Get out. Don't come back. Never speak to me again. You can send Lex for your things. I hope you'll be happy."_

"_There's more."_

"_I don't care!"_

"_You have to hear this!"_

"_I don't HAVE to hear anything, Ryan!"_

"_She's pregnant!"_

"_What?" Alice's voice sunk to a whisper. So that was it, she thought: his other woman could give him something she never could. He would be a father. No wonder he didn't want her any more. Oh well, she sighed, they all left, eventually._


	21. Part 21

Part 21

On Alice's advice, the group had moved before first light. The old mall was no longer a safe place to meet. It certainly wasn't a safe place for Zac and Paul to stay during the day. Now they trekked up the hill to the farm in the pale moonlight. The smaller groups they had split into to avoid suspicion had regrouped once they were outside the city perimeter. As they neared the farm, and dawn crept over the hillside, Alice opened the door and ushered everyone inside. Helena, Ryan and their son Con were the last to arrive. Alice let the boy and his mother through, then stood in the doorway, in front of Ryan.

"We'll be needing a guard," she said, then slammed the door in his face.

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Jack and Leo had left as soon as Jack had made up his mind to do so; now, as the sun was rising, they were well on their way to their destination. Jack, being City Leader, had the only car still running in the city: it was Zoot's old police car. As the vehicle trundled along the old road, Jack leant forward to speak to his driver.

"Put your foot down, Denver!" he yelled, " We want to arrive before nightfall!"

"Yes sir!" Denver replied, pressing his foot down hard on the accelerator pedal.

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"He's gone!" Alice shouted angrily from the stairs into her cellar.

"Typical!" said Helena sarcastically.

"Watch it!" Alice warned, re-emerging from the cellar door into the large farmhouse kitchen.

"No fighting!" cried Amber, taking charge the way she had done so many years ago.

"Yeah," said Zac from his mother's side, "We're all on the same side here!"

"Where do you think Denver's gone?" Lex cut in.

"He'll have run off to his Lord-and-Master Jack!" Helena snapped, "He always was just like his father!"

"Hey!" cried Alice, rounding on her, "That's MY son you're talking about!"

"Yeah and your son is one of our biggest problems right now!"

"Oh I know what YOUR biggest problem is!"

"YEAH?"

"YEAH!"

"SHUT UP!" the cry came from the corner of the room, from Con, "Both of you! Just shut up! I do know what you're fighting about! Don't you know that's not important now! This is important! Getting rid of the guy who has been getting rid of all your friends over the past ten and more years! Getting rid of the madman that is ruling this city! That is what is important! Not some age old feud!"


	22. Part 22

Part 22

By the end of the day Alice had, grudgingly, let Ryan back into the farmhouse and a plan had been formed. It had been agreed that Zac, Paul and Ellie would leave the city and head for the old Gaian camp. The Gaians had long since disbanded, but the location of their camp still remained a secret known only to Lex, Amber, Trudy, Brady, Hawk and Zac. Jack should not be able to find them there. The others would return to their usual daily routine: they had been lucky, so far, in that their day at the farm had fallen on the weekly rest day, any more days off like this and they would all be missed very quickly. Each day, once they had finished their work, they would come up to the farm. Now that Denver had gone, they would be safer there than anywhere in the city.

"You don't think people will start to notice that all the ex-Mall Rats habitually troop up to your farm at the end of every day?" Zara had complained, loudly.

"Not if you all take different routes," Alice had replied, rolling her eyes, "Plus, you should all be travelling at different times."

Only a few arguments had broken out, mainly between Alice and Ryan, or Helena, Lex and Zara, Violet and Salene, Violet and Rose or Lex and Salene. The plan, however, had been formed. The younger generation of Mall Rats would play the larger part: suspicion would be less likely to fall upon them and it was much easier for them to disappear than their parents. They would gradually collect supplies at the old Gaian camp: Trudy would take Falcon and Jackson there with Zac, Paul and Ellie, then Falcon would return and try to patch things up with Denver, in a bid to get a spy on the inside, and Trudy and Jackson would co-ordinate trips to the camp.

They had two months to get together the means and manpower to get rid of Jack. While the kids collected the supplies, their parents would use their positions to recruit help from the other ex-tribes. Lex knew the militiamen he could trust. Amber knew the law. She could "condemn" whole families if she wanted. They would move those families from the city to their own version of the "mines", where they would gather until the city was ready to make its move: the Gaian camp. Patch and Dee would arrange fake death certificates and order contagion isolations and send their recruits off to their own version of the burial ground or fever camp: the Gaian camp. Salene, Brady, Rose, Keller and Violet would take the school children on a field trip: to the Gaian camp. They would move the city out of Jack's reach from right under his nose.

The most difficult job fell to Marc. He had persuaded Cloe to go with Trudy and Zac, but he was returning to the city, and his job, with the aim of keeping an eye on his employer: Jack. Marc was Jack's accountant, that was how he had met Patsy.

Each had their part to play. It would take more than the Mall Rats to bring Jack down: his influence had stretched too far now for them to curb it on their own. It would take time; it would take risks; but could they really afford not to try?


	23. Part 23

Part 23

Jack, Denver and Leo pulled up outside the seemingly deserted warehouse.

"Here we are, sir," said Denver, calmly, "it looks like no-one's home!"

"It's meant to look like that," Jack answered, coolly, "My son and I are going inside. Bring our luggage in. You'll receive further orders inside."

"Yes, sir," replied Denver, stepping out to open the door for Jack and Leo.

Jack led his son to the door of the facility. When they reached it he released his son's hand and tapped in a code on the keypad at the side of the door. The door slid open and father and son were met with a small, dark, box-like hall. Jack stepped inside, his hand on Leo's shoulder as he ushered his son forward before him. The door slid shut behind them and they were encased in the darkness. Leo started at the sudden lack of light and whimpered a little, but Jack drew him in front of him and, placing both hands on his son's shoulders, told him he had to be a big boy now and that fear would only make him weak: he had to be strong.

"Name the password," a woman's voice said suddenly.

"Phoenix," Jack answered, without delay.

A few seconds later the lights flickered on within the cubic booth and another door slid open to the right of them. As Jack led his son through the door into a wide room, a middle aged woman with long black hair walked forward to meet them.

"It's been a long time," she said.

--

The meeting at the farm had split up; everyone had gone home, except Zac, Paul and Ellie, who had remained at the farm for the night. Cloe was in her room, packing, while her husband watched her worriedly.

"I wish you would let me stay!" Cloe said, pounding another jumper into her bag.

"You're eight months pregnant!" Marc replied, "You are not going to be part of this: You are going to the Eco camp and you will stay there and look after those we send. We agreed this."

"Including your daughter!"

"Including your best friend's daughter! I know she's mine, but she's also Patsy's!"

"Do you have to keep reminding me! You slept with my best friend! You had an affair with her! The only reason you stopped having an affair with her was because you were afraid of her husband! Afraid of what he would do to you as well, not her! It was her that died, not YOU! It should have been the other way round, but you left her with him! You knew what he was like! She told you! But you still left her there! To die!"

"She wouldn't leave! I did offer!"

"Oh, you _offered_! Well, that makes it all right then, doesn't it! You _offered_, you're off the hook! You should have made her leave! You should have taken her and her brat long before that other one was born and you should have LEFT! Maybe then I wouldn't have had to carry two of your children only to lose them before they were even born! Maybe then I would have been able to forgive her and get my best friend back before she died! Maybe then I would have been able to follow my own heart; gone with my own lover and been with him before he died rather than be stuck in this marriage with YOU! I hate you! I'm glad this child isn't yours! Maybe then it will live and I'll have some memory of the only man I should ever have been with!"

--

Trudy helped pack Jackson's things, but her mind was wildly wandering, worriedly. Hawk was downstairs in the kitchen, nursing a bottle of cider. He drank too much, Trudy knew; she'd seen the same thing in Lex when Zandra died, but Hawk was quieter, he took pains to try and hide it from her, for that, she still loved him. There was nothing in the world would make her desert him, but now she had to leave, for a little while at least, and she prayed she wouldn't come back to find him dead in his own vomit.

"Mom?" Jackson's voice brought Trudy out of her reverie.

"What is it honey?" she answered, gently.

"Can I take googly-bear?"

"Sure you can."

"Mom?"

"M-hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am, sweetheart. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You look sad."

"It's a sad business: Jack was a good friend of ours once."

"Is Dad okay?"

"He'll be fine honey. He's just a little sad just now."

--

Amber and Lex lagged a little behind Hope, Zara and Violet. Zara kicked at a stone roughly and Lex rolled his eyes.

"What would her mother say?" Lex sighed.

"She'd laugh," Amber replied, "You know she would. Then she'd say Zara was her father's daughter!"

"Hmm," murmured Lex, raising one eyebrow.

"Dad," Zara called as they reached Amber and Hope's door, "Can Vi come over for a sleepover?"

"Sure, honey!" Lex called, before the penny dropped. When it did, he turned to the girls' receding backs.

"Hey! You wait a minute, young lady!" Lex cried.

"Too late, Dad!" Zara called, laughing as she and Vi broke into a run.

"Let them be, Lex," said Amber, gently, "At least you don't have to worry about becoming a grandfather too soon!"

"I'm more worried about _never_ becoming a grandfather! You're right: she is like me! She even has my taste in women!"

Amber smiled and shook her head. She looked up at the stars: it was a clear night, a beautiful night. It was cold though: Hope had already gone inside. She glanced up ate her daughter's window at the front of the house. The light was on, but a few seconds later, it went out.

"You never know," she said, "You may get another chance yet. You've plenty of time."

"Who'd give me another child at my age?" Lex snorted.

Amber rolled her eyes: could he really not see what was right in front of his face? Hope would be asleep by now.

"You don't have to go home tonight, you know," Amber said, wondering if he would take the hint.

"Thanks, Amber, but your sofa's not the most comfortable in the world."

"Lex," she said, placing her hand on his shoulder and turning him to face her, "I want you to stay. And not on the sofa. Please. We know he's dead now. We can move on. I'm free."

Lex just looked at her for a moment, bewildered. This couldn't be happening, he thought. She cared? She really wanted him? After they had been friends for so long, he had thought that was all they would ever be. He hadn't dared to hope. Now his heart was screaming at him to do something, say something. Amber saw the look of confusion in his dark eyes. For all his greying hair, he looked like the young man she had argued with vehemently everyday all those years ago when they first met. She decided to put him out of his misery. Reaching up she pulled his head down to hers. There were no doubts now.


	24. Part 24

Part 24

The sun was rising over the city and the reformed Mall Rats were beginning to put their plan into action. Cloe, Falcon, Trudy and Jackson were making their way away from Trudy's house, where Marc and Hawk stood, watching them. Brady had gone to work, Trudy remembered, he'll be on his own once Marc leaves. The worry filled her once more: would her husband be able to keep himself sober enough to play his part in this? Would he survive without his family around him? They seemed to be the only couple who had made it through the years intact: Salene had lost Pride; Alice and Ryan had split; Lex had lost Tai San and Amber had lost Bray, although with any luck those two would come to their senses some time soon and find each other; now Cloe and Marc were on their way out it seemed, although, Trudy was sure there was more to it than just Marc's infidelity.

They turned the corner of the road, so that they could no longer see the two men watching them. Trudy turned her thoughts back to Jack. Alice was, of course, totally sane. She had pulled a Hamlet on Denver, Jack and all the rest of them for the past eighteen years. Now she was out for revenge. Trudy believed the story Alice had given them about the first Ellie's death: that she had been slowly poisoned by her then husband, Jack, when she started finding out too much about who, or what, he had become. Trudy also believed something else that Alice had told them: that not everyone sent to the mines actually arrived there, there were others who went by a different route and were never seen again. What if Merlin had been one of those who had never reached the apparent safety of the mines? Where was he? Was he even still alive?

The noise of an argument between her two remaining children by Hawk stirred Trudy out of her melancholy. She parted the feuding pair and turned to roll her eyes at Cloe. The slightly younger woman was watching the children, wistfully. Trudy paused, frowning slightly, and placed a hand upon Cloe's shoulder, asking her if she was okay.

"Huh?" Cloe started, she had been lost in her reminiscences too.

"Are you okay Cloe?" Trudy said again, "You looked a little spaced out there."

"No, I'm fine," she replied, as Jackson and Falcon chased each other through the still quiet streets ahead of them, "I was just thinking: it must be nice to have kids with the man you married."

"Oh, Cloe," said Trudy, putting her arms as far around her pregnant friend as Cloe's ample bump would allow, "It'll be okay this time, you'll see."

"Maybe, but it still won't be Marc's baby."

"What? But whose ... ? And how can you be sure?"

"Marc and I have been sleeping in different rooms for years. I can be pretty sure! And now it's all out in the open about Ellie and her mother; it's obvious to everyone that Marc and I haven't been in love for a very long time; and, to make matters worse, I can't even tell my baby's real father that he's gonna be a dad because he's gone! Trudy, I'm scared: I don't want to be a single mom again! It was bad enough with Keller before Marc came along, I can't do it again!"

As Cloe sobbed onto Trudy's shoulder, the children stopped and looked back at them. Jackson made to go back, but his sister stopped him.

"Leave them be. It's hard on the olds: they knew the City Leader well when they were younger."

Jackson nodded and went back to walking at his sister's side.

--

The sun was rising over Amber's house, and shining brightly through her bedroom window. Amber opened her eyes slowly, then blinked. She didn't need to wait for her vision to clear to know he was still there, beside her. Lex's arm was there, draped over her side. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, slow and steady, he was still asleep. She moved her hand down to rest on his and linked her thin, delicate fingers through his large rough ones. His hand closed around them and he kissed her neck softly.

"I love you," he whispered.

She had been about to reply when Hope casually walked into the room.

"Mom, I'm gonna go ... " she started before seeing Lex, burying his head in his pillow and trying to hide behind Amber, "Never mind!"

Hope turned on her heel and left the room faster than an express train. When the door shut behind her, Lex could no longer hold back the laughter that had been bubbling up inside him. He rolled onto his back and hid his face with his hands, trying to stop the hysterics that enveloped him. Amber rolled over to look at him.

"Kids!" he laughed.

"And you wanted another one!" Amber retorted.

"We're gonna need a lock on that door!"

"No, I think that's probably scarred her enough for one lifetime! She'll remember to knock in future!"

--

The sun was rising over the abandoned warehouse. Inside, machines were buzzing into life, others had been providing a constant drone right through the night. Leo was sleeping soundly in one room, Denver in another, the former with his thumb in his mouth, the latter with his thumb in his mouth and snoring loudly!

Jack lay awake, staring at the ceiling of his room on the top floor, away from everyone else's chambers. A delicate, feminine hand snaked across his chest. She was awake, then. The woman's dark skin contrasted sharply with his own, but their characters were identical.

"You know, it really has been a long time, Jack," she said, a wicked, seductive smile sliding across her face, "No-one else will be awake yet. Besides, it's not as if _he's_ going to mind! _He_ won't even notice!"

Jack sighed, he really didn't have time for this right now, but keeping her sweet was an integral part of the plan.

--

This sun was rising over the farmhouse, but the work there had long since started. Alice had Zac going up and down the cellar steps, bringing sacks of apples, salted and smoked meats, flour, corn and numerous other foodstuffs into the kitchen.

"At least you're less of a wuss than your father when it comes to farm work," Alice commented, "He hated getting his hands dirty up here. he preferred the leadership role in a team. If he ever had a weakness, apart from your mother of course, that was it: He just hated being told what to do. That's the one thing he really had in common with his brother you know. Difference was, your father was a good leader, when it all came down to it. Made a few mistakes, but who doesn't. When all's said and done, he was the right man to lead this city and the city knew it. That's what got Jack so scared: he thought he was going to lose, and not just the election!"

Alice continued wittering on as Zac worked, telling him all about his father, how much he was like him, how proud Bray would have been to see the man he's become and other such stuff. By the time he had finished his work and sat down to the breakfast Alice had prepared for them, he seriously starting to doubt her sanity, again!


	25. Part 25

Part 25

Cloe, Trudy, Falcon and Jackson were now on their way to the deserted Gaian camp with Zac, Paul and Ellie. They had reached the farm mid morning and had only stopped for a brief meal before starting off once more. Every one of them, except Cloe, carried a heavy pack containing all sorts of supplies. They had no idea what the camp would look like when they got there as the Gaians had left almost twenty years ago. As far as they knew, the old huts might not even be standing.

An hour or so after midday the stopped for a meal in the shade of the forest. During their rest time, Cloe got up and excused herself, saying she wanted some time alone. Trudy watched her go, noted where she went and, after some ten minutes had passed, followed her. She found Cloe sitting with her back to an old, knarled oak, clutching her bump with one hand and a tattered picture with the other. Her long dark hair covered her face, but Trudy could tell that she was crying. Walking over and dropping to her knees beside her, she clutched her old friend close to her and stroked her hair gently, telling her all the while that "it's gonna be alright". Trudy glanced at the picture in Cloe's hand. She had thought as much.

"KC," she said, not even bothering to ask if he was, as she was sure he must be, the father of Cloe's baby.

"I should never have married Marc," Cloe sobbed, "Once Ved disappeared and I found out I was pregnant, I panicked. Marc was nice. He understood. He offered. I accepted. Then KC found his way back to us. If I'd only waited. If I'd only waited."

Trudy shushed her gently, still stroking her hair in the motherly fashion she used whenever Falcon succumbed to yet another crush. Cloe was still, very much, the scared little girl Amber and Dal had found on the city streets so many years ago.

--

Jack stood in the centre of the control room with Java by his side. Leo was ensconced in his room, with more toys than he would know what to do with and an ageing female Techno keeping him company, and out of his father's way. Around Jack and Java there was a circle of six entombed persons. One, the one they were facing, was instantly recognisable as Ram, the original leader of the Technos.

On one side of Ram there were two men, approaching middle age, who were definitely brothers. If he hadn't put them there, however, that would have been all Jack could have told you: their dark brown hair, still with peroxide blond tips, had grown to cover much of their torsos, as had the beards and moustaches that had appeared and grown over the years. On Ram's other side there were another two male faces: the first, still in his Techno uniform, looked in his late thirties with long black hair, beard and moustache and rectangular, tinted glasses; the second was much younger, only about twenty, with long, straight, black hair and pale skin that reminded Jack instantly of the young man's mother, but the beard and moustache took Trudy's image out of his mind a little. The sixth casket encased a woman: she was very similar to Java in looks and her hair, although now unbraided had been combed and cut and kept in general good condition, in the same way that Ram's prostrate personage had also been looked after.

"It must be hard seeing both your husband and only surviving sister this way," Jack said to Java.

"If Ram wasn't this way," she replied, "he would be dead and his genius gone. This way, he has one of his wives with him and four servants. he can be a king in his own paradise."

"Why keep him and Siva looking respectable and not the others?"

"Why should I? Jay refused me. Mega used me. They and Ved all betrayed Ram. As for the boy, I don't even know him."

"His name's Merlin. He's Trudy and Hawk's first son."

"Was," Java corrected, "And don't go getting sentimental on me: you put him here. In place of someone else, remember."

"Well, much as I would have preferred to see that dishcloth Bray in here, I had no idea he would fight back so much. But no matter: the boy was an easy and convenient replacement."

--

Lex had spent the morning recruiting from within his ranks and was in Amber's office, eating lunch, when Marc burst into the room.

"He's gone!" the thirty-five year old accountant cried, stopping to catch his breath before elaborating, "He doesn't always come down early, but when he wasn't down to the office by midday, I went to check on him and the penthouse is empty, not a soul there! All the trappings are there, but their clothes and some other stuff are gone."

Marc stopped, his breath exhausted, and dropped into the chair Lex had led him to. Ellie's true father's blonde hair seemed to have gone pure white. As he rested, the door to Amber's office opened once more and Brady rushed in. She flicked her long black hair over her shoulder, fixing Amber with the ice blue eyes she had inherited totally from her father.

"Leo didn't turn up for school today. This is the first chance I've had to get away, we wondered if you'd heard anything?"

Amber motioned to Marc in the chair Brady had strode past.

"Marc's just been telling us that the penthouse is deserted," Amber said as Lex moved round to place his hand on her shoulder.

"It seems the first Mall Rat has deserted his sinking ship," quipped Lex.

Brady raised an eyebrow, noted where Lex's hand rested and smiled. There would be good news to tell her mother when she returned as well as bad.

"So, what now?" she asked.

"Call a meeting," said Amber, "Get everyone up to the farm tonight, ASAP. Even if Jack's gone, we can't afford to assume there aren't still people loyal to him in the city. Plus, we don't know where he's gone, exactly what he's taken or if he'll be back."

"Apart from clothes," Marc piped up, his breathing having returned to normal, "I did notice that there was a chest missing from Jack's room, and a lot of computer gear. I know the penthouse quite well."

--

Alice was in the kitchen, baking bread. She thought of the plan she and her old companions had put into practice that morning and smiled. Soon she would have her revenge on the man who had taken her little sister away from her and corrupted her son. Soon. She thought of Jack and pounded the bread dough fiercely.


	26. Part 26

Part 26

The Mall Rats and their families, apart from those who had left for the Gaian camp that day, gathered in the farm kitchen. Alice sat at the head of the table, with Amber and Lex on one side and Marc and Brady on the other. Ryan stood with his back to the wall, behind Alice, out of her line of sight.

"The way I see it," Lex was saying, "the plan still stands. We use Jack's absence to recruit more and faster."

"We have to take him into account," Brady warned, "Jack's a very clever man: he's already proved that. Yes, carryon with the plan, but someone has to find out where Jack is and what he's up to."

"Denver's probably gone too," said Alice.

"His car is certainly gone," Marc added.

"So they've driven somewhere," concluded Dee, "But, where?"

"Was there any computer equipment left at the penthouse?" Patch asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose as he spoke.

"No," his brother replied, "Not a bit: I checked everywhere."

"They can't have taken everything!" Alice exclaimed, "Zoot's car's not big enough! If I know Jack, he'd have had masses of computer equipment in that place."

"There's a hidden room," slurred a voice from the end of the table.

Everyone stopped and looked toward the voice. It was Hawk.

"B-But I've gone over the place with a fine tooth comb!" Marc stammered, "I never saw a single sign of a hidden room!"

--

Jack sat in the luxurious armchair, facing Ram. Life was good in reality space.

"Welcome to my humble abode," smiled Ram, "It's not much, but ... it's home!"

No-one in reality space aged: Ram, Jack and the others in there looked as old as the day their images had been scanned into the computer system. Jack didn't like looking seventeen again, it reminded him too much of the person he was before he met Ram, but he put up with it. Ram laughed, a sickly, slimy laugh, and pulled Siva onto his lap. Clicking his fingers, he sent Jay for more drinks and Ved for some food. Only once they had been brought, did he return to his conversation with Jack.

"So," he sneered, "the little virts are thinking of revolting! You realise, of course, what you have to do?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that," Jack replied, coolly, "The only way round this that I can see would be to rid myself of every one of them once and for all!"

"My point exactly."

"But that would cripple the city! They are an integral part of so much of it!"

"I did warn you not to let them think themselves important."

"If I'd kept them down they would only have got suspicious sooner."

"Maybe, but at least then you could have taken them out, claiming that they were simply jealous of your power over them, and not ruined the smooth running of your city at the same time," Ram sat back, arching his fingers as he spoke, clearly and pointedly, "You have to wipe them out, Jack. This time do it properly: leave no-one alive that can revenge them. No-one."


	27. Part 27

Part 27

Cloe, Ellie, Zac and Paul had remained at the old Gaian camp for two days now. The first of the refugees from the city had started to arrive that morning and the newly erected huts and tents that Zac and Paul had been busily setting up since their arrival were fast filling up. It was now nearly noon and Cloe was busy tending the fire while some of the others prepared the midday meal. As she settled back to watch the flames, she placed a hand on her bump and forced back the tears that burned her eyes.

"You hate me, don't you," said a small voice from behind her.

Half turning to face the speaker, Cloe found Ellie, standing with a pail of water in her hand. Ellie set the pail down, turned and walked away before Cloe could think of a reply. Of course she didn't hate Ellie: it wasn't her fault that her parents were who they were, but how do you explain to an eleven year old, even in this world where children grew up so fast, that every time you look at them they remind you of the worst mistake you ever made. Cloe didn't hate Ellie, she just hated the fact that Ellie reminded her of that mistake: of marrying a man that she didn't love. She winced in pain of the memory. No, not the memory, the reality: the pain was real and it was ripping through her: she was in labour, it had started.

"PAUL!" Cloe yelled, automatically calling for the person she knew best, then, cursing, changed her tactic: "ZAC!"

Zac came running up with Paul and Ellie in tow. He made a few quick signs to Paul and the two men lifted Cloe to her feet and helped her into the old leaders hut. Zac shouted to Ellie to run for one of the newer arrivals at the camp: a midwife sent by Patch from the hospital with a "suspected fever", just in case she should be needed. Ellie set off at a dash and the midwife was soon at Cloe's bedside. After shooing Ellie out of the room, the midwife got Zac to send Paul for water and the cleanest rags they could find then introduced herself to Cloe.

"I'm Kaz, Cloe," the midwife said, gently, as she propped Cloe up on the bed, "It's alright: Patch sent me to look after you. He said I was the best he had."

"How long has she got to go?" asked Zac.

"Hours Zac!" Cloe shouted as the next contraction came.

"Okay honey," Kaz said, calmly, but quickly, walking back to the head of the bed and handing Cloe a clean piece of wood, "bite down on this. No, I don't think we're gonna be here for hours: this baby's impatient to be out in the world."

"Just like his father then!" Cloe said, taking the piece of wood.

Outside the door, Ellie heard the muffled screams just as Paul was passing her to go back into the room with the rags and water. After just over an hour, the screams had ceased and had been replaced with the sound of a baby crying.

"How did you know it would be a boy?" Zac asked.

"Just a wild guess," Cloe sighed.

"Have you decided on a name?"

"Kevin Conrad," Cloe said, her voice weakening slightly, "After his father."

"KC?" Zac was startled: only Trudy and Marc had known the real identity of Cloe's baby's father.

Cloe held her son close: he had his father's eyes and cheeky grin. She smiled and lay back on the bed, letting her eyes close as the infant lay warm against her. Zac and Paul smiled at her for a moment, then turned to leave mother and son alone. As they and Kaz left the hut, they didn't notice Cloe's arm relax and fall to one side and her still smiling and peaceful face slump sideways and grow pale.


	28. Part 28

Part 28

It had taken some time for Hawk to remember the exact placement and method of entry to the hidden room. He had been drunk when Jack had accidentally let him in on the secret. He had been so drunk in fact, that Jack had ignored his presence thinking he was asleep. Unfortunately he had only woken up for the second part of the procedure necessary to open the veiled vestibule, giving Marc and Patch a long night's work trying to figure out the riddle. When they eventually found their way into the room, the three men found an array of computers larger than any they had seen since the Techno's were in power. Every computer in the room was devoid of power and no lights blinked. Hawk could remember no more of that night as the door had been shut again once Jack had entered the room and two of his servants had thrown the inebriated ex-Gaian out of the building before their master's return.

Patch was still the best hacker they had, even after all these years, but even he hadn't been able to get into Jack's systems. He had spent the whole of the first night trying to hack into the mainframe of the system, but to no avail. Now it was too late: Jack had arrived back the next day, only a few hours after Patch had left for his shift at the hospital. According to Marc, Leo was not with his father and, although Denver had dropped Jack off at the penthouse and carried some baggage inside for him, Jack was on his own: Denver had driven off again and the servants remained absent. Perhaps now was the time to strike? The conversation at the farmhouse was rife with arguments.

"We should try to find out where Leo is," Salene argued, Rose nodding her head in agreement at her mother's side, "We can't leave the poor boy an orphan without even knowing that he is okay!"

"Jack will have him safe, wherever he is," Lex cried, impatiently, "and he'll have plenty of preparations ready just in case! He may be a lot of things, but he is still Jack: the little geek who could never keep his room tidy but always had everything expertly planned out!"

"You can't know that for certain, Lex!" Salene's voice rose to a crescendo as she argued her piece.

"We can't sit around and wait for him to think it's safe to bring Leo back," Amber cut in, "He knows there's something going on. Leo's his heir: whatever else he does Jack will make sure that Leo is out of our reach. Lex is right here."

"I might have known you'd take his side!" Salene shouted.

The younger generation of Mall Rats began to edge away from the table. Only Brady remained with her mother.

"Oh, Sal, don't be ridiculous!" Lex chided, merely succeeding in fuelling the fire.

"How dare you!" she cried, "How can you sit there and ignore the fact that you want to make a seven year old boy an orphan without taking the slightest responsibility for those actions and then call ME ridiculous?"

"Why should we take responsibility? I've no doubt that Jack has him shut up somewhere with some of his people. If you haven't noticed, his entire staff has taken a mass holiday! Leo will be with them where they can look after him and keep him out of our way."

"He doesn't need to be kept "out of our way"! Our quarrel is with Jack alone, not his son!"

"Says who?" Alice cut in, "Who's to say that kid won't grow up just like his father? What do you do when you find a nest of rats? Do you just kill the parents and hope the kids won't grow up the same? No. You drown the lot of them."

"He's seven years old!" Brady cried, "there's nothing to say he'll turn out like his father: I didn't and I had a much worse father than Jack if your stories are anything to go by."

"You weren't raised by your father, though," Alice replied, "You only ever knew your mother. Leo's had Jack as his main role model for the past seven years. Besides, you're the exception rather than the rule, Brady. Look at my son: he turned out exactly like his father!"

"But just because Denver took after Ned," Trudy argued, quietly, "that doesn't mean Leo will turn out like Jack. Jack wasn't always like this: something inside him has just flipped!"

"Short circuited," Lex quipped.

"We have to give him the chance, at least," Amber said, calmly.

"But we have to remember what his father became," Alice replied, "we can't forget that and let his son do the same to the next generation of the city."

"We'll just have to hope that whatever it was that turned Jack into what he is now is in the past and staying there."

As the argument finally began to subside into reason and the younger occupants of the kitchen began to draw nearer to the table once more, the farmhouse door swung open, sending a blast of icy wind through the room blowing out the fire in the hearth and the candle lantern above the table.

"Nice one, bro.," said Hope in the darkness.

--

Jack sat typing at his main computer in the hidden room. They had found the room alright, he noticed. Plus, someone had been trying to hack into his systems, but had failed miserably. Probably Patch, he thought: amateur! There was no-one in the city who would be able to hack into these systems, apart from Jack himself of course. If his one-time friends, now his enemies, knew what was in here that was worth so much protection, then maybe they might have stood a chance against him. As it was, they didn't: he was safe. He looked at his watch. It was almost time.


	29. Part 29

Part 29

As Alice busied herself relighting the lantern, then setting to work on the fire, Zac moved through the darkened kitchen to Marc's side. He put one hand on the man's shoulder, whispered something in his ear then led Marc off to a secluded corner of the room. Zac was aware of Keller watching them from Rose's side. When he saw Marc slump back against the wall, one hand covering his face, Keller got up and went over to his father. Trudy and the others were watching too, now. Zac, at Marc's bidding, left the two men in the corner of the room and went to tell the other Mall Rats.

"Cloe gave birth to a baby boy today," Zac began, lifting the spirits of all those before him, "But, there were complications and she lost a lot of blood. She died not long after her son was born."

Trudy's face fell. If only she'd stayed, she thought. Her heart went out to Keller: the young man didn't even know that Marc wasn't his real father, that he was an orphan now, his new half-brother being the only blood kin he had left. Not that that mattered in these times: the tribe had always been a kind of family and would stay that way, whether they were allowed to call themselves a tribe or not.

"Did she name him?" Marc asked, breaking the reverent silence that had fallen across the room.

"Kevin Conrad," Zac answered, simply, deciding it would be better to leave out the rest of Cloe's last sentence.

Marc nodded, drew his hand down, over his moustache to his chin. Keller put a hand on his father's shoulder as the fire finally leapt into flame.

"He will be welcome in my house," Marc replied, after a short and thoughtful pause, "once this mess is cleared up. Until then, keep him safe with my daughter, please."

Zac nodded. He would have spoken, but for a second time the farmhouse door flew open, plunging the group into total darkness once more.

"Dammit!" Alice was heard to say.

--

The main problem Jack had work around was twofold. Firstly, the farm was entirely devoid of power and, therefore, cut off from any interference, bugging or other tricks from his systems. Secondly, this meant he had to depend on Denver to carry out a significant part of the plan. The imbecilic Neanderthal should be there by now, Jack thought. Here's hoping he remembers what he's supposed to do. There were several things that could mess up this plan: one of the largest of them was Denver. But it was no matter if he did mess it up: Jack had planned for that and every other possible mishap.

Jack turned his monitor over to TV mode and flicked through the various channels until he found the one that watched over the farm. The light was just flickering on inside the poorly shrouded window. It was an unsteady light, wavering precariously on the brink of darkness, but it illuminated the interior of the old farm kitchen enough to show Denver's bulky and unmistakable silhouette. He was there. It had begun.

--

Java turned as the monitor beeped, there was new mail. She opened the short note from Jack. It was brief and to the point, stating only one word: "Begin".

She closed the e-mail and turned to her workers. Giving them a few short, sharp instructions, she watched as they began the simple, but lengthy, process of removing Ram's animated playthings from their virtual imprisonment. They were still unconscious. They would remain that way until they reached the city. The penthouse to be exact. They were Jack's prisoners now. Ram no longer needed them. Since Ram had spoken to Jack, there hadn't been much he had needed. Jack had needed knowledge, or rather, more knowledge, of the remainder of the Techno systems in the city. Ram had given him that knowledge. Ram was no longer needed. Ram was dead.

Java smiled, remembering how good it had felt to finally pull the plug on her once dear, now departed, husband. She was a widow. She was free. There was much still to be done: all the gear in the warehouse would be coming to the city with them and that could only be packed up once the prisoners were safely loaded on board their accommodation for the next full day. Much of the personal belongings of Java and her workforce had already been loaded up and sent on ahead with Jack's staff from the city. By this time tomorrow, she would be back in the city, with her lover, without any ex-Mall Rats to worry them.


	30. Part 30

Part 30

It had been a long night. Denver had told them everything, well, everything as far as the Mall Rats were concerned: how Jack had paid him to work for him, but had never really told him what was going on; how he had found out about the prisoners and Ram and Java; how he was sure Jack would kill him if he went back now; how Jack planned to take out the Mall Rats one by one. They were all there, with a few exceptions, and all listening. Amber's eyes flicked to Lex when Siva's name was mentioned, but he didn't flinch. Hawk crumpled onto the table when Merlin's name was mentioned, while Falcon led Jackson away to where he couldn't see his father's grief and Brady put an arm around her mother. Trudy barely moved at her daughter's touch, her eyes fixed on the table in disbelief: it couldn't be true, not Merlin, Jack wouldn't go that far!

As the sun rose, Denver finished his tale. His mother watched him suspiciously then started to get together all the breakfast things. Ordering the kids out to collect the eggs and sending Denver down to the pantry for bacon and oatmeal, she cast a weary eye over her old friends. so much had changed between them in the past twenty three years since the virus hit. So many of them had died, too many at Jack's hand. They were all known to him, they were all in danger. All except one.

"As far as Denver is concerned," she said at last, turning to face her friends, "Cloe's child died with her. There's no need to bring him into this and the less Denver knows the better."

"Do you really think we can't trust him, even now?" Marc asked, his hands shaking.

"I don't know, but I don't want to risk it. There's too much at stake."

"She's right," Zac cut in, "We can't risk it."

"What about Paul and Ellie?" asked Amber.

"They're safe at the Gaian camp," her son replied, "but that's another thing that Denver can't know about. As far as he's concerned, they went north, off into the forest and out of reach. I stayed to bring Jack down. That's it."

"But how do we let Paul know that?" Lex asked.

"I told him if I wasn't back in two days, and I hadn't sent anyone else, something was wrong and they were to stay where they were and run the place like the city didn't exist. They'll be fine. They should have enough provisions and the camp was in good working order when I left. It should be able to house all it's new residents without our interference."

"Hmm," Lex nodded.

"That at least keeps them safe," Alice said.

"Then we're agreed?" Amber asked everyone, "Denver knows nothing of anyone outside the farm?"

There was a chorus of mumbled sighs and affirmatives amongst the nodding heads around the table. Silence regained the room as Denver's footsteps were heard on the creaking pantry stairs.

"Is this what you wanted, Mom?" Denver asked his mother cheerfully: food was one of his favourite things, other than money.

"Yeah, just bring them over here," she replied, "then slice that bacon up. We've a full house for breakfast today."

--

As Java travelled with her charges, she scrutinised them carefully. All of the men and had their hair cut and washed and their beards shaved. Jay looked hardly any different from when he had been put into the machine and Ved had changed little. Java had made a point of not cutting Mega's hair as short as it had once been and it impressed quite a difference on his face to have the now medium length, curly black hair framing it. Merlin had, of course changed the most, having spent about half his young life in the virtual rather than real world. He was tall and skinny. He resembled Trudy a lot and shared a lot of her facial features, but his eyes and hair were dark brown, like Hawk's Java supposed, but she couldn't really remember the man clearly, having only met him once during a raid of the Gaian camp. Funny though: she was sure his eyes had been lighter.

--

Jack slept well that night. Everything was going to plan. By the time he was finished, the only people alive with any connection to the Mall Rats would be himself, Java and their five prisoners. Those five would be the last to die. Then he would have his city back.


	31. Part 31

Part 31

Two days after Denver's return to the farm, Java and her convoy arrived at the office block, at the top of which lay Jack's penthouse. The journey had gone a lot slower than they had planned, but that shouldn't matter: she had kept communications running for the duration of the trip. Two guards to each prisoner, with more bringing up the gear, Java led her party into the foyer of the building, then up the elevator to the penthouse itself. One of Jack's newly returned staff showed them into the elaborate hallway then through to a waiting chamber.

The prisoners huddled together, the four adults surrounding Merlin. Java watched them closely. The two brothers stood at the front of the group, presenting a unified front for once in their lives; as far as Java was concerned, it would probably be their last, but perhaps Jack had other plans for them. Merlin stood behind them, his face obvious between Jay and Ved's shoulders. Mega and Siva stood behind Merlin. Mega kept glaring at Java: he'd caught sight of his reflection in the mirrored elevator walls and was not in a forgiving mood. Siva was preoccupied with something else, but Java couldn't tell what it was.

At length, Jack entered the room. He took one look at Mega and burst out laughing. Mega tried to keep his composure calm, but it was obvious that Jack's behaviour riled him.

"What's your plan, Jack?" Mega asked, smoothly, "You gonna laugh us to death?"

"Oh, come on now, Mega," Jack replied, his serious attitude returning momentarily, "You know me better than that. After all, you made me the man I am today!"

Jack laughed, callously, and turned away from the group.

"Well, I didn't know I was getting a little expert help when I reprogrammed you," Mega replied, coldly, "Especially not from a madman."

"Ram may have been mad," Java hissed, "but he _was_ a genius. And now," she inclined her head towards Jack, "there is someone to carry on his genius."

"They say there's a fine line between genius and madness," Ved couldn't help himself, despite his brother's warning glare, "Sorry to see you've crossed it, Jack!"

"See, the problem with madmen, Ved," Jack explained, "is that they have a tendency to shoot themselves in the foot. They fail. Look at where you are. This is my apartment. Look around you. Who rules this city? I do. I didn't fail. I even managed a full ten years running this place legitimately, well, mostly, without the heroes of the city, the wonderful Mall Rats even considered raising a hand against me. Tell me, Ved, who else in this new world has managed that? Hm?"

"I can't believe that," Jay cried, "Ebony would never have let you take over ..."

"Ah, sorry, Jay." Java cut in, "Forgot to tell you. Ebony sadly passed away some years ago."

Jay caught his breath. He should have known, but he wasn't even sure how long they'd been in their virtual prison. Time didn't work the same there and it had been a shock to them all to see Merlin in the flesh when they had finally woken up: they still expected to see an eleven-year-old boy.

"H-How did she die?" Jay's voice shook.

"There was a fire," Java said with mock sadness, "It started at the mall. Took out a whole sector. They found her and May, once the fire had gone out, trapped under a beam. At least we think it was them."

"What about Lex?" Siva cried.

"Oh, he's still around," Jack answered, nonchalantly, "He's even still sheriff!"

"And Cloe?" Ved asked, frowning.

"Married and expecting her next child any time now, if this one survives."

"Married?"

"Didn't even wait for your son to be born."

"I have a son?"

Jack turned to Java.

"You know where everything is," he said, "See them settled. Maximum security. Then report to me."

"Jack! Do I have a son?" Ved cried.

"The boy needs new clothes," Java said, hurriedly, "We couldn't find anything to fit him at the facility."

"Jack!" Ved's voice became more urgent.

"Take what you need from my stores here. I won't be using the old stuff again. He's welcome to them," Jack paused, "for his mother's sake."

"Tell me! Please!" Ved's voice shook, "Do I have a son?"

Java bristled at the reference to Trudy, but nodded and Jack left. Giving a few sharp orders to the guards, Java led the prisoners out of the chamber and along a well lit corridor. At the end of the corridor were two doors, one on the left and one on the right. Java hustled her sister through the one on the right, then the three older men through the one on the left. She turned to the guards holding Merlin.

"Bring him," she said, tersely, and walked back down the corridor.

--

The Mall Rats had returned to the city. Zac had stayed with Alice at the farm, as had Denver. As far as Denver was concerned, it was to be business as usual, with meetings every other night to discuss what they were going to do about Jack. Only Lex, Amber, Trudy, Marc, Hawk and Brady came to those meetings, to avoid suspicion.

As far as the rest of the Mall Rats were concerned, it was to be business as usual in the city with slightly longer than usual lunch breaks which they all seemed to take at the same time. Once a week, Alice would come down to the farmers market and keep the flow of information going between the city and the farm. The original plan, with a few necessary modifications would go ahead, eventually. However, they could no longer send more people to the Gaian camp in case they were caught, it was too risky now that Denver was back, but until they could find another safe haven, the flow of people out of the city would have to stop. This meant that, until then, they had to work on ways to bring Jack down without an army.

"I'll see what I can find out," Marc said as the group sat in the school canteen, eating lunch, "But it won't be easy. He'll have his guard up."

"Look, he's gotta come out of that penthouse eventually," Zara cried, "Why can't we just take him out then?"

"Because he'll have guards, Zara," Lex chided his daughter, "Think before you make a suggestion!"

Lex caught Amber's eye across the table as he turned back to his food. She raised one eyebrow, questioningly, and smiled. Lex shrugged and mouthed the word "What?", then returned to his meal.

"Why don't we try and concentrate on getting the prisoners out?" Hawk suggested, quietly, "If Marc could find out where he's holding them, maybe we could work something out."

"We'd stand a much better chance against Jack with Jay and Ved and Mega, at least," Amber agreed, "if their term in reality space hasn't damaged their brains. They would know the Techno systems Jack uses much better than Patch or any of the rest of us."

"Do you ..." Trudy started to speak, then paused, searching for the right words, "Do you think Merlin will be ...?"

"I don't know, Trudy," Patch answered, "But if Ram was in the same system, they would probably have had to have the safety on so that the prisoners couldn't hurt him, or so that the system itself didn't. Ram was our wild card. While he was alive, and the prisoners in reality space with him, I'm guessing they couldn't be damaged in any way. If Jack needed Ram alive it was for his brain and he would be a fool to risk damage to the one thing he needed from him."

"You're guessing?" Trudy began to get hysterical, "You're guessing? Patch, one of these "prisoners", as you keep referring to them, is my son!"

"Easy, Trudy," said Ryan, putting a hand on his old friend's shoulder, "We'll get him out. I'm sure he'll be fine. He'll probably still wanna be a builder or whatever it was he decided he wanted to do last time I saw him."

"I don't think he ever decided, really," Trudy calmed down to a state of maternal reminiscence, "He was always making things. Weird little inventions. Just like ... Just like you would expect."

--

In the two cells, the four adult prisoners sat, digesting the news they had received. Siva lay on the thin mattress in her cell, trying to remember the last things she had said to her younger sister. Lex had probably forgotten all about her, he had Tai San and his daughter, after all, and probably more kids since then, knowing Lex. Ebony, however, was gone. She would never see her again. She had lost her for good, just after they had started to get to know one another again. She closed her eyes and cried herself to sleep.

In the other cell, the three men sat, waiting for Merlin's return and trying to come to terms with their losses. Jay had hardly said a word. He just sat there, staring at the floor. Ved had his head in his hands. He kept repeating the same words over and over again: "I have to know! I have to know!". Mega sat back, with his head rested against the wall. His eyes were red with tears. They didn't know of course, Jay and Ved: no-one knew the cause of Mega's grief. No-one except Mega and he kept it to himself now as he had done then.


	32. Part 32

Part 32

Jack sat in his control room, watching the monitor screens placed around the city. One screen showed the canteen at the school. It concentrated on a single table, a table surrounded by a large number of people of varying ages. Jack hit a few keys on the keyboard and the screen zoomed in to the table. A few more keys and sound came through the speakers. Trudy was upset about something.

"_You're guessing?" _Trudy was crying,_ "You're guessing? Patch, one of these "prisoners", as you keep referring to them, is my son!"_

"_Easy, Trudy," _said Ryan, putting a hand on his old friend's shoulder,_ "We'll get him out. I'm sure he'll be fine. He'll probably still wanna be a builder or whatever it was he decided he wanted to do last time I saw him."_

"_I don't think he ever decided, really," _Trudy calmed down to a state of maternal reminiscence,_ "He was always making things. Weird little inventions. Just like ... Just like you would expect."_

"Huh," Jack mused, biting his lip in thought.

"_As far as I see it," _Amber continued, ignoring the looks that passed from Hawk to his wife as she spoke,_ "we must assume Merro, Jay, Ved, Mega and Siva are safe, for the time being. If Jack brought them to the city, then there's a chance Marc can find out where they are and maybe get them out. Until we know otherwise, they're alive and well, okay Trudy?"_

On the monitor screen, Trudy nodded her head but fixed her gaze on the table.

"_This is so weird," _Hope mused, by her mother's side.

"_I know honey," _Amber replied, turning to put a supportive arm around her daughter's shoulders, but finding herself beaten to it by Con, who sat on Hope's other side.

Ryan looked round at his son then up at Amber and shrugged. Amber just laughed and shook her head, then returned to the conversation.

"_We have to get them out of the Gaian Camp," _Alice was saying, _"and we have to get them out soon."_

"_We can't send Zac back!" _Brady replied,_ "Denver'll spot him."_

"_I'll go," _Trudy's voice, quiet as it was, cut the conversation off completely.

"_Mom?" _Brady asked,_ "Are you sure you're fit to do this? You've been pretty run down recently."_

"_Of course I am, Brady!" _Trudy snapped,_ "Besides, you and Amber have jobs to do. I'm the only one who can go without drawing attention to myself!"_

In his control room, Jack laughed.

"Too late to worry about that, Trude!" he sneered, "Much too late!"

Jack hit a few keys on the keyboard again and the system started recording the audio-visual feed from the camera in the canteen. He would go over it later; now he had work to do. Jack summoned one of his officers.

"Take two patrols to the Gaian Camp. You know the co-ordinates, you were in the last raid. Kill everyone you find there. Burn the place to the ground. Once you're sure everyone is dead, One patrol is to return with a report and the other to remain at the camp. The patrol that stays is to wait for this woman," Jack reached into a pocket and retrieved a photograph of Trudy, then handed it to the Techno officer, "She is to be brought back alive. If she dies, so do you and every man in the patrol you left there. Do I make myself clear?"

The Techno officer nodded and left.

--

It took Merlin little time to find some old clothes in the stores that fitted him and that he liked. Most of the clothes in the stores fitted his build. The only problem was deciding what to take. Eventually, after a warning call from Java, backed up by the guards with him, he settled on an outfit. Getting changed quickly, he returned to where Java was waiting, both guards following him closely. When Java looked round from where she was leaning on the door-post, she did a double take.

"Wh-what?" Merlin asked, confused by Java's reaction.

"Nothing!" Java replied, quickly, "I just didn't recognise you for a second there."

"Y-You have a lot of thpare prithonerth in there?"

"You're in no position to make jokes!" Java said sharply, then paused before adding, as if to herself: "funny, I never noticed that lisp before."

"I-I never had much to thay."

"Hmm," Java replied as she led the way back to the cells.

When they eventually arrived at the cells, Java opened the door to the room holding Mega, Jay and Ved. She raised one eyebrow at the guards, who pushed Merlin inside, then shut the door behind him. Once inside, Merlin looked back at the door reproachfully, then turned to the three older men who were simply sitting staring at him.

"Wh-what?" Merlin asked again, "G-Guyth, what are you staring at?"

"Woah!" Mega exclaimed.

"That's unbelievable!" Jay agreed.

"Surreal!" Ved chimed in.


	33. Part 33

Part 33

Trudy stopped. The utter chaos that met her eyes was beyond belief. The Gaian camp, so recently restored, was in complete ruin. Dead bodies were scattered around. They showed no mark of injury: something that proved this to be the work of Technos and, therefore, Jack. Trudy crept forward slowly, hardly daring to believe her own senses. She dropped to her knees beside a familiar figure.

"Paul! Oh my…" Trudy's breath caught in her throat as she looked around and saw young Ellie's body lying not far from Paul's.

"On your feet!" The harsh command came from behind Trudy.

Tears running silently down her face, Trudy stood up and turned to face the Techno general who was pointing his stunner directly at her. With a motion from the general's other hand, more Techno's stepped forward to bind Trudy's hands behind her and escort her, roughly, forwards.

"You will come with us," the general barked, "You will not be harmed if you comply. I would not advise resistance: you are entirely surrounded."

Trudy could do little more than nod as the tears fell, unbidden, down her cheeks. If Jack knew about the Gaian camp, he might know about the others and if he knew about _them_, they were lost.

As she stumbled on in the midst of her extensive group of captors, blinded by hopeless and despondent tears, she cast her mind back over the early years: the years when Jack had been on their side. It had all changed since he came back from his time with the Technos. She had always noticed the difference: he was more confident, his stutter was gone, and he had grown up a bit, in looks as well as character. It was then that she had fallen for him: when he had just got back to them. It was just a matter of bad timing that he had come back while she was already in a relationship with Hawk. There had been a brief affair, but her conscience had got the better of her in the end and she had married Hawk, only to find out later that she was pregnant. She had done her best to convince Hawk that the child was his and, to this day, that was what he thought. She had, at the same time, convinced Jack that the child's father was her new husband, not him, and, as far as she knew, he had believed her. She prayed that was still the case.

--

As Trudy was being marched away, a hooded figure ran through the woods, away from the Gaian camp, away from the city, away from everything that might endanger the child held close in it's arms.

--

"Sir," the Techno general addressed the seemingly empty room, "The woman you requested be captured is here."

"Send her in," the familiar voice came from nowhere, but as it spoke, a panel slid open to reveal a doorway through which Trudy was pushed.

As the door slid closed behind her, Trudy looked around and saw Jack, sitting in front of a computer screen.

"Glad to see some things never change!" Trudy exclaimed haughtily.

"Well, every leader needs a control centre!" Jack quipped, pushing his chair back from the computers, "Do come in, you're just in time."

"In time for what?" Trudy asked hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"Take a look," Jack motioned towards the wall of monitor screens, showing different parts of the city.

Hitting a few keys on the keyboard next to him, the wall of different pictures combined to a single picture, spread out over all the screens to be big enough for Trudy to watch easily. The view was the kitchen of the farmhouse. Denver, Zac and Alice were sitting, eating their lunch. Trudy noticed Denver glance up at the camera for a second and give an almost imperceptible nod, then look back to his food. She heard Jack give the command to "Execute" and watched as a group of Technos swarmed into the farmhouse.

"_What's going on?"_ Alice cried, her voice sounding distant on the monitor, _"What is the meaning of this?"_

"_You have been found to be hiding a banished man within the city boundaries,"_ a Techno officer shouted as his men surrounded them, _"the penalty for which is death."_

"No!" Trudy screamed as she saw first Alice, then Zac, fall to the ground.

"_Well done, boys,"_ Denver laughed, _"Now let's all get back to our lord and master, shall we?"_

His laughter was cut short when the Techno fired on him as well and he fell to the ground beside his mother.

"No!" Trudy repeated, staring at the floor as the image vanished from the screen.

"They were breaking the law, Trudy" Jack sighed beside her, "They had to be dealt with."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Now Trudy, surely you know the answer to that?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking, would I?"

"Well now, you know me better than anyone else, don't you? You know, we really had something, all those years ago, but you had to go and spoil it. You say your conscience was to blame, but it wasn't really was it. If your conscience was bothering you, surely you would have told that tree-hugger the truth instead of marrying him. Look at what you did to the poor guy: the man's a wreck!"

"I didn't do that to him Jack! You did! You took Merlin away! That's what got to him so much!"

"Oh yes, that's right," Jack smiled at the memory, "My own little revenge. An eye for an eye and all that jazz: he took the thing I loved most, you, so I took the thing he loved most."

"You never really loved me!" Trudy cried, "You're incapable of love!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Just incapable of loving the wrong woman," Jack walked around Trudy, placed his hands on her shoulders and whispered in her ear, "but you were never the wrong woman, were you Trudy? Even now, after all these years, you're still the only one for me."

Trudy closed her eyes. The touch of his hands and the feel of his warm breath on her neck still had an effect on her, but she blocked it out, reminding herself of the monster that Jack had become.

"I have the entire city to command, but I still do not have the one thing I really want: you. I want you here, to reign over this city with me as my queen. Don't… be too hasty to turn me down, Trudy: I don't _have_ to ask any more."

"What have you done with my son?" Trudy asked eventually.

"Nothing," Jack replied, "Although, I believe Java's given him some old clothes of mine. We didn't really have anything to fit him in our facility."

"Can I see him?"

"If you wish."

Jack pressed a button on the keyboard next to him and the hidden door slid open once again.

"Take her to holding cell one. She is to have five minutes with her son. Do not harm her: she will be your queen soon."


	34. Part 34

Part 34

As the Techno guards marched Trudy down the corridors, her mind drew pictures of what her son may now look like. However many images her imagination conjured up, none of them prepared for what she saw when the guards opened the cell door and unfastened her hands.

In the centre of the room, there was a familiar-looking young man. He was talking to the three older men standing looking past him to the door. His voice sounded familiar too, Trudy thought. Suddenly, he looked up and noticed that the three men were no longer listening to him. Turning to follow their gaze, he noticed Trudy standing in the doorway with a shocked expression on her face.

"_Jack?_" Trudy whispered under her breath, then, recognition striking her like a slap in the face, "Merlin? Merro? Is that you?"

"Mom!" Merlin cried, rushing to her side.

"Merlin!" Trudy embraced her son, but the shocked expression remained on her face.

"He looks just like his father, doesn't he Trudy," Jay said, spitefully.

"Jay?" Trudy questioned, then looking to the other two men, "Ved? Mega?"

The other men nodded.

"You noticed then?" Trudy asked, pulling herself out of her son's embrace.

"It was hard to miss!" Mega replied, stoically.

Trudy hung her head.

"What'th wrong, Mom?" Merlin asked.

"Honey, sit down," Trudy smiled up at her son, "We haven't got long."

Merlin allowed his mother to lead him over to sit down on the bench, the sole piece of furniture in the room. Jay, Ved and Mega remained standing over the other side of the room to give the two what privacy there was to be had.

"Merro, there's something you have to know. Firstly, you know that you sister Brady's father is not Hawk..."

"Yeth, Brady wath born before you two met, right?"

"Yes," Trudy paused, trying to find the words to continue, "Well, Brady isn't the only child of mine who wasn't fathered by the man I married."

"What d'you mean?" Merro's brow creased, just like his father's used to when someone told him something that didn't follow the normal lines of logic.

"Honey, Hawk isn't your father. I know he thinks he is and so does everyone else, well, everyone outside this room, but he's not. There was someone else. Yes, I did cheat on Hawk, but it was before we were married and I hadn't made him any promises. I thought I was in love with another man. Eventually I came to my senses and married Hawk, just in time to be able to persuade him and the world that you were his and a little bit early in arriving."

"Tho, who ith my father then?" Merlin drew back a little from his mother.

"You haven't seen yourself in a mirror have you? You look just like he was then. But then, you've never seen him like that anyway."

"Yes, he has," Jay cut in, it was hard not to over hear their conversation, "He always appeared that age in the virtual reality systems. Wearing those clothes too."

"Jack?" Merlin finally guessed the reason for everyone's reaction on seeing him, "My father's Jack? Mom, how could you?"

"Oh honey, you didn't know him then. He was different. Really different. I suppose he must have been already on the slide to madness, but you couldn't tell then. He was just this guy that had been taken away as a shy little geek and come back as a confident, handsome young man. He was a genius. Still is, that's what makes him so scary now!"

"Trudy," Ved cut in, "I have to know something."

"What is it Ved?"

"Cloe and my son. Are they okay?"

"Oh, Ved. I'm sorry," Trudy bit her lip as she watched Ved's face fall, "Cloe died in childbirth not long ago. She had had a few miscarriages before and, when she finally managed to give birth to her second son, it was too much for her. Your son is okay though, as far as I know. His name's Keller. He's engaged to Rose, Salene and Pride's daughter."

"They had twins didn't they?" Jay asked, "Two girls?"

"Yes, Rose and Violet. Such a shame, they lost their father in the fire. We lost so many: Pride, Dal, Ebony, May and her baby..."

"May had a baby?" Ved exclaimed.

"She was pregnant. Her bump was only just beginning to show. We didn't know until we pulled her body out of the wreckage. We never even knew who the father was!"

"It was me," Mega's quick words stung the others, "I left just after she told me. I couldn't handle it. If I'd stayed..."

"You might all be dead," Trudy finished for him, "Mega, I'm so sorry. Truly, I am. But you can't blame yourself for what happened. The fire wasn't your fault."

"Time to go," one of the Techno guards called, sharply.

Trudy rose to her feet and walked over to the door. Two guards took hold of one arm each and marched her away while other, newly arrived guards bound the four male prisoners hands to do the same. Looking back over her shoulder, Trudy saw another two guards enter Siva's room and bring her out in similar fashion. Back they walked, through the meandering corridors of the large penthouse, Trudy and her guards leading the line of prisoners.

When they got to the study where the hidden door resided, the guards stopped.

"Sir," the lead guard shouted, to the air in general, "They are here at your command."

"Send them in," Jack's voice, devoid of any emotion, came through the hidden speaker as the panel slid back.

As the group entered, they saw Jack sitting with his back to them. He was watching the wall of monitor. Once again, the pictures had been combined to give an ample view of the school canteen. The picture had been zoomed in to view the group huddled around the table, talking. They were all there, Trudy noted. All except those who were already dead.

"_It's not as easy as all that, Zara!"_ Lex was saying to his daughter, who had her arms wrapped around Vi's neck, _"We can't just walk in there and take him out! He lives in a penthouse! Right up on top of an office building. There's no telling how many guards we'd have to get past to get to him. Besides, if what Denver told us is right, and Jack's running the Techno show now, they'll have those zapper things and they'll be able to take us out without a second glance!"_

"_I say we should try anyway!" _Zara cried, _"Hit 'em hard enough and something's got to give!"_

"That's gotta be his daughter!" Siva said, looking over Trudy's shoulder.

"It is," Trudy replied, "She's his only child. Tai San died giving birth to their second and the baby died too."

"Which one's Keller?" Ved asked, stepping forward, eager to see his son.

"To the far left, between the blonde man and the young brunette," Trudy answered, quickly adding, "She's his fiancé, Rose."

As Trudy said this, she was aware of Jack speaking into a communicator. The room flooded with Technos and everyone at the canteen table rose to their feet in alarm.

"Kill them," Jack said, simply, into the communicator, "Make sure none escape. You see, Ved," Jack added, addressing the bound man beside him, "only a genius would have been able to do all this, then get rid of every last "Mall Rat" and do it in the name of the law. They are guilty of treason. The punishment for treason is death, therefore: they die."

"No!" Ved screamed, launching himself forward at Jack and tearing the skin on his wrists as he broke his bonds.

Jack snapped his fingers and Ved fell to the floor, shot down by a Techno gun. Jay fell to his knees beside his brother.

"Ved?" Jay's voice was quiet with grief, "Ved?"

"He's dead, Jay," Jack stated, without looking round, "Just like Ebony, although, getting rid of her was a little more difficult."

"What do you mean?" Mega asked, his face paling, didn't your son die in the same fire that killed Ebony and May?"

"Oh, so you were May's secret lover," Jack laughed, "I did wonder. But I never really got a chance to ask her. I was a bit busy escaping my own handiwork."

"_You_ started the fire!" Jay said, incredulously.

"Surely you can't be much of a genius if you get caught in a fire you start yourself?" Mega retorted.

"Oh, but that was all part of the plan: I seemingly get stuck in the building, trying to rescue my infant son and only just make it out alive."

"But Dal died."

"Yes, but he wasn't actually my son anyway. Not really. Ellie confessed as much to me. Before she died that was."

"Before you killed her," Trudy cut in, "We know how Patsy and Ellie really died, Jack."

"Fine, before I killed her then. Well, she was getting in my way. And we did say "'til death do us part", Trudy." Jack grinned up at Trudy, evilly.

"You really believe nobody can stop you, don't you?" Trudy exclaimed as she watched Amber fall to the ground, protecting her daughter, "You really believe that once you've got rid of us you've won!"

"Yes," Jack replied as Hope and Con fell to rest by their parents, "In fact, one of the last things Ram said to me was "you know Jack, the only think that can stop you now ... is yourself!" He was right too. Ram always was right about those sort of things. Such a shame he told me he'd outlived his usefulness. Once he said that, I didn't need him anymore."

"They were your friends!" Siva cried as she watched Patch fall, "Your family!"

"How can you do this?" Mega exclaimed, "Sit here watching them fall."

"You should know," Jack replied, "you programmed me!"

"I didn't program you to do this. That was Ram's interference."

"Ah, yes. A little addition to the programming. But not by Ram."

"Then by whom?" Jay asked, "Who else would have the brains to reprogram you to be like this?"

"Oh, can't you tell?" Jack laughed, "Come on now, Trudy: surely you of all people can spot the signs? He was a dying man, just like Ram, but instead of putting himself into cyberspace for all eternity, where everything was nice and orderly, he put himself into me. Ram helped, of course, but I doubt he knew the final outcome then. I brought back the power, then the chaos, now all is mine."

"Zoot?" Trudy, for the first time, looked straight into Jack's eyes: they were glazed over, "Oh my..."

"You fell for me. You should have spotted it."

"Oh no."

"It's interesting what happens when you program a madman's mind into a genius's brain. Especially a trusted genius. It's the perfect recipe for success!"

"No!" Jay could take no more: he broke his bonds with sheer force and sprung at Jack.

Faster than his brother, Jay managed to fasten his hands around Jack's throat before Jack's men could shoot him. Siva and Mega instinctively blocked their path, but were shot down almost immediately. When the guards did, eventually, shoot Jay, he fell towards the computer systems, smashing one of the screens.

"You fools!" Jack cried, in a rage, "Why can you never do anything cleanly. You four: go and find another monitor. A working one! You four: get something to clean up this mess!"

The eight Technos hurried off, leaving four behind in the room with Jack, Trudy and Merlin, who was standing quietly and unseen by the side of the computer desk, observing his father.

"I wanted you to be my queen before, Trudy," Jack turned to face the now terrified woman, his eyes still glazed over "but you were weak and pregnant and you went off with that brother of mine. You thought you'd killed me, or that Lex had killed me, at least, but he hadn't. When I came round, everything around me was in flames. I was so badly burnt that even you wouldn't have recognised me, but I got lucky: I washed up on a Techno beach. They were just in the early stages then, but they had enough technology to save me, for a time. Ram had a similar problem. He was working on a solution: a mind transfer program. I learned a lot from him. When the time came to use it, he decided to put himself into "Paradise". Nothing more than a computer! I chose a much more interesting new home: a Mall Rat! How fitting that a member of the same tribe credited with my death should be the means of restoring me to life!"

"Jack?" Trudy looked into his eyes, trying to find a trace of the young man she once knew.

"Oh, he's long gone. He held out for a while, longer than I expected, actually, long enough to fall for you and let you go, but he's gone now. The programming has taken over. I may have a new body, but I'm back: Zoot has risen! And the only Mall Rats left alive to stop me are you and that son of yours."

As he had been talking, Merlin had taken a piece of the broken glass from the smashed monitor and, without the knowledge of the guards, had cut his bonds. He looked around him. Jack's Techno gun was lying on the desk, knocked out of it's hiding place behind a keyboard that Jay's body had hit when he fell. He took it up and, keeping his wrists behind his back, strapped it on. He remembered using them in the "shoot the virt" games Ram used to have them play.

"What about Leo?" Trudy asked, "Do you think he'll grow up to i_enjoy_/i all of this madness?"

"Oh, Leo is taken care of. So is Java for that matter. She outlived her usefulness and he, well, once Ram told me that only I could stop me I figured well, what's the last piece of Jack left? The one thing keeping the last shreds of his heart and mind alive? I kill the boy and Jack's gone. His body is all mine. Pity he was such a genius: if he followed his heart more than his mind, he might have beaten me."

"He was your son!"

"No, he was Jack's son. Programming doesn't change genetics. Ram reminded me of that. Brady was my daughter. She had my guts. Unfortunately, though, she had your morals. Put the two together and that makes her a threat. Even she is now gone."

Trudy sobbed, remembering watching her husband and three children fall in the canteen only minutes ago.

"They are all dead. Now you have a choice: join me, as my queen, and live, or don't join me and die with your last son."

"I will never join you!"

"Then the last of the Mall Rats, it seems, must die."

'Jack' turned to his guards, ready to order them to fire upon Trudy and her son, but found only Merlin, standing aiming a Techno gun at him, with the four bodies of the guards behind him on the floor. As a look of astonishment crossed 'Jack's' face as he took in the boy's appearance, Merlin fired the gun and watched the body of his father sink to the floor.

"You killed my friendth, my family, my tribe and ath far ath I can make out from what you jutht told uth, my real father. I'm not gonna let you kill my mother too."

As Jack's body hit the floor and rolled over onto its back, Trudy saw the eyes un-glaze just long enough to focus on her and her son, now standing beside her. With his last breath, Jack, himself again for the last few moments of his life, managed to form one more word to leave with his son and the woman who still loved him, even after all this:

"Sorry."

Fini


End file.
